00:03A pessoa me ligou online e me levou, e quando eu fui lá, eu fui ambushed por quatro outros
00:08guys, making it five. Eu fui beijing, eu fui extorted. Eles me gravaram naked.
00:23Criminais estão tomando o nigeria's anti-gay law para cometer crimes como
00:28kidnapping, robbery, assault and blackmail. There is even a name for it in Nigeria, Quito.
00:34Gavin says the assailants took his phone and bank card, took loans out in his name and called his
00:40parents and friends to extort money from them in exchange for his survival. Gavin was held for
00:46eight hours and released when his captors felt they had gotten enough money. But the fear remains.
00:52Every day it feels like I have a target on my back. Every day it feels like I can't show
00:56my true self.
00:57I have to hide who I am. Same-sex relationships are criminalized and offenses carry up to 14 years
01:04imprisonment, forcing LGBTQ plus people to live in constant fear and making them easy targets of
01:11extortionists. A group called Timed Nigeria is offering support. Sometimes they even help negotiate
01:18during Quito incidents. There are some cases that we have some high amount of money. Are they still
01:25demanding? They cannot remove anything. And we have some cases that community members have spent one
01:31week or more than one week with them. And some don't survive this hostage situation. 23-year-old
01:37Hilary Ikechuku was thrown out of the window of a two-story building when he tried to escape his
01:42captors. He later died from his injuries. It was barely two weeks after my case that I saw
01:47Hilary's case and I cried. I really cried because that could have been me. With the help of groups like
01:53Timed Nigeria, Gavin is working to overcome his trauma and he's dreaming of a world in which he can be
01:58free
01:59and safe.
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