Niger, the former French colony in West Africa, is in the midst of a country-wide gay purge, with dozens of high-ranking officials and civilians arrested and imprisoned.
Earlier this year, the government officially banned homosexuality in the country, imposing years-long sentences and fines on anyone found guilty of committing “indecent or unnatural acts” with a person of the same sex.
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Those participating in, witnessing, or organizing a same-sex marriage were also targeted with new penalties, as well as any person or group involved with organizations, clubs, or other “societies” of LGBTQ+ people.
Prison sentences range from 10 to 20 years, with fines up to $180,000, Reuters reports.
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The changes to the country’s penal code are part of a wholesale “reform” of Niger’s constitution imposed by the general-turned-president who deposed Niger’s last government in a 2023 coup. Until this year, homosexuality wasn’t criminalized in the country.
General Abdourahamane Tchiani, a former UN peacekeeper in Niger, was sworn in as president in 2025 and dissolved all political parties, the Guardian reports.
Following the imposition of the new punishments, Tchiani’s regime has embarked on a “witch hunt” for gay men across the country.
Up to 40 people have been arrested, and 16 men, including high-ranking military officials, have been imprisoned across the country, according to local media.
“With the recent witch-hunt and these arrests that are taking place, the climate here is truly toxic,” said one well-placed source, who asked to remain anonymous.
“LGBTQ+ populations are keeping a low profile and have gone into hiding because they are at risk,” they added. “We have lost contact with many, and the recent arrests have exacerbated tensions.”
A judicial source told Reuters that high-ranking officials who work for customs and police forces have been arrested, as well as several civilians.
“The operation is ongoing,” the source said. “It will target certain facilities where people of the same sex live together,” they added, referring to army barracks and college campuses.
Tchiani is employing the same anti-imperialist rhetoric used by neighboring African nations denouncing homosexuality as a symptom of imported Western “degeneracy.” Tchiani recently formed the Alliance of Sahel States with Burkina Faso and Mali, countries that have also imposed new draconian penalties for homosexuality.
They join Uganda, Senegal and Ghana in a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ hysteria sweeping Sub-Saharan Africa.
Larissa Kojoué, a political scientist and pan-African activist, told the Guardian that the neo-colonial arguments made by Niger and other countries are a tool to consolidate power.
“Political leaders are using this to advance their own political agenda,” she said. “They claim ‘African values,’ sovereignty and culture, all the while happily undermining human rights for people.”
“There is no culture that encourages violence against innocent people, or that doesn’t hold perpetrators of violence accountable,” she said. “But on the continent, you can do whatever you want with LGBTQ+ people and get away with it.”
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