RETIRED Irish Army Captain and serving senator Thomas Martin Clonan, joined a protest staged by members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) community at the Nigerian Embassy in Dublin, Ireland.

The protest held last Thursday, sought to compel the Nigerian Government to overturn the execution of three Nigerian men found guilty of homosexuality and rape in Bauchi State, North-East Nigeria.

Clonan argued that the trio of Abdullahi Beti, 30, Kamilu Ya’u, 20, and Malam Haruna, 70, had no legal representation when they faced a ‘Kangaroo court’ on June 30.

“We stand shoulder to shoulder with our LGBTQ+  Brothers & Sisters,” the Senator tweeted during the protest.

The three men were arrested by Hisbah Vanguard, an outfit set up to promote Islamic virtue, for committing the offense of homosexuality at Gwada village in Ningi Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.

Hisbah Vanguard spokesperson Adamu Dankafi said the men were accused of raping two brothers aged 10 and 12 after drugging them.

The accused were brought before a Sharia court in Ningi, which sentenced them to death by stoning, under Section 134 of the Bauchi State Penal Law of 2001 and a provision of Fiquhussunah Jizu’i, a book that is used to interpret Sharia law.

Trial Judge Munka’ilu Sabo-Ningi passed the sentence after the three men allegedly confessed to the crime.

Federal law prohibits all forms of homosexual activities and prescribes up to 14 years imprisonment for those found culpable.

However, homosexuality is considered an act worse than adultery in Islam and LGBT persons in Northern Nigeria face the death penalty.

Bauchi is among 12 states in the North where Sharia law is in operation alongside common criminal justice.