LGBT activist, Bisi Alimi, has advised African gay men to delete the Grindr app.
Grindr is a geosocial networking mobile app geared towards gay and bisexual men, designed to help them meet other men in their area.
In messages posted on Instagram on Friday, Alimi said the “hook-up” app has become a tool for homophobic men to lure gay and bisexuals with the intention of attacking them.
He said switching off the might save the lives of gay men particularly in Lagos, Nigeria.
Security forces have been accused of creating fake profiles on dating apps like Grindr and Hornet to arrest those in same-sex relationship.
Upon arriving for a rendezvous arranged through the app, some users instead found authorities waiting for them, ready to use the meeting and chat logs as evidence of homosexuality which is outlawed in Nigeria.
“If we get as many people campaigning to #deletegrindr across #Africa#grindr will listen to us and take action. Now is the time to take action or we will continue to be victim of these men. Enough said,” Alimi wrote.
Alimi, 43, is the first Nigerian gay man to openly declare his sexual orientation, having done so in 2000 during a live television interview with Funmi Iyanda.
He currently lives in London with his husband, Anthony Davis.
