Description
Two Nigerian university students were brutally beaten by a mob after being accused of being gay, with graphic videos of the incident going viral on social media.
The attack is the latest in a string of violent assaults, prompting alarm over a growing wave of vigilante violence targeting LGBTQ+ people across the country.
The disturbing incident, which took place at the Delta State University (DELSU) in southern Nigeria, shows the two young men being hunted down, cornered, and violently assaulted by a crowd of fellow students.
In one video circulating on TikTok, the mob is seen smashing windows and trying to force their way into a small security building where the victims had locked themselves in for safety. Dozens of onlookers gathered around the scene — some jeering, others recording the attack on their phones.
In another clip shared on Twitter by the school’s student blog, the two men are dragged outside, thrown onto the ground, and savagely whipped with belts and sticks by a group of young men.
They are visibly covered in blood and bruises, pleading for mercy as the crowd looks on. The videos, which can still be found online continue to circulate on TikTok and Instagram, appear to have been filmed and uploaded by students at the university.
What has horrified many online observers is not just the brutality of the attack, but the flood of support it has received online.
Location
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Delta, Nigeria
