The Killing Of Nigerian Transvestite “Abuja Area Mama” Has Prompted Police To Launch An Investigation

Nigerian authorities are looking into the death of “Abuja Area Mama,” a transgender TikToker, whose body was found on an Abuja highway on Thursday.

The 33-year-old was discovered injured and battered. She gained a lot of social media following for her tweets about her experiences as a transgender woman and sex worker. She never gave out her complete name, preferring to go as Ifeanyi.

Nigeria is a conservative country with strong laws prohibiting same-sex partnerships and a high rate of harassment and violence against the LGBTQ+ community. Abuja Area Mama revealed a year ago that she had been attacked and was afraid for her life.

She posted about meeting her boyfriend on Wednesday, her last Instagram post. Her body was discovered on the Katampe-Mabushi freeway in Abuja a few hours later; authorities believe this to be a murder.

Benneth Igweh, the chief of police in Abuja, has ordered a “thorough and discreet” investigation into the event, and police have begun their probe. The body was discovered without identification and dressed in feminine attire, according to the authorities.

The announcement of her passing sparked a social media outpouring of grief that brought attention to the continued struggles the LGBTQ+ community in Nigeria faces in spite of their legal safeguards against discrimination. Reporter Martins Ifijeh denounced the action, referring to it as “the worst form of inhumanity.”