Men in women’s clothing at party face jail

EIGHTEEN Nigerian men accused of dressing up as women during a party at a hotel went on trial yesterday before an Islamic Sharia court in the northern state of Bauchi.

Dozens of residents shouted abuse and hurled stones at the men as they were escorted into an armoured prison vehicle after the hearing, prompting police to fire tear gas at the crowd.

The men, mostly in their 20s, were arrested in a Bauchi hotel on August 4. Police say they were dressed as women, which is illegal under the state’s Sharia penal code. The offence is punishable by up to a year in prison and 20 lashes by cane.