On Wednesday evening, authorities from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) apprehended Bobrisky, the well-known cross-dresser, whose real name is Okuneye Idris Olanrewaju, in Lagos State.
The agency’s spokesperson, Mr. Dele Oyewale, confirmed the arrest to the press on Thursday morning.
According to Oyewale, Bobrisky was detained for the alleged offence of mutilating naira notes, rather than for his identity as a cross-dresser.
“It is true our boys arrested him yesterday evening in Lagos for naira abuse. We don’t have anything to do with his lifestyle (being a cross-dresser). He was suspected of committing an economic crime and that was the reason for his arrest,” Oyewale explained.
Bobrisky’s arrest occurred just a day after the Nigeria Police Force announced its inability to detain him for alleged involvement in same-sex activities.
On Tuesday, the police clarified that they could not apprehend Bobrisky despite calls for his arrest.
The calls intensified after social media influencer and blogger, Martins Vincent Otse, known as VeryDarkMan, criticised the decision to award the Best Dressed Female title to Bobrisky at a Nollywood event.
However, the Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Ademola, informed reporters on Tuesday that cross-dressers cannot be arrested in Nigeria since there is no specific law against cross-dressing.
Additionally, Ademola stated that there is insufficient evidence to link cross-dressers to the LGBTQ+ community.
He said, “There are some cases that are always very difficult to prove.
“I’m not ruling out that we have many of them. Let us be reasonable, you can’t have someone you want to prosecute without having credible evidence against them. I have not read anywhere where cross-dressing is an offence in Nigeria.
“Some of them that are into cross-dressing, the allegation is that they are into something else.
“That’s where the problem lies. We need to have enough proof, credible evidence to prove that they are actually into that. All those offences are natural offences in Nigeria and they are punishable under our laws.”
