Nigerian LGBTQ+ people struck with grief after death of trans influencer

The gruesome murder of a popular Nigerian trans woman, Chantell, famously known as “Area Mama of Abuja,” has plunged the Nigerian LGBTQ+ and TikTok community into intense grief. 

In the early hours of August 8, the body of Chantell was discovered on the roadside of an express highway in the capital city of Abuja, where she lived and worked as a sex worker while owning a local beauty supply store.

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The police say they are looking into it as a murder, and the devastation experienced by her friends, colleagues, and TikTok fans cannot be measured.

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“I’ve been crying since I got the news, I still can’t believe she’s dead,”  Vera, one of her colleagues, told LGBTQ Nation. “Area Mama didn’t deserve the ill fate she got. She was a nice lady and the kindest person I’ve ever known— she had so many dreams for the future and her killers just took everything away from her. Nigeria failed her!”

Beyond shock, another transgender woman, Cookie, found herself questioning her safety. She stated that Chantell’s death traumatized her and shattered her hopes for the future in Nigeria.

“What happened to Area Mama could easily have been any of us. She was brutally murdered in cold blood and her killers are still out there. The police said they have opened an investigation into her death but I think everyone in this community and myself knows that is a big lie. The police are one of the people hounding our community and extorting us when they were supposed to be protecting us,” Cookie said.

“They can’t even protect average innocent Nigerians, so what makes anyone think they would care about us when they all believe we’re lawbreakers and society pariahs.”

Nigeria is a conservative society with strict gender norms, and those who deviate from these norms are targeted. Same-sex relationships are criminalized in the West African country and punished with a 14-year-long prison sentence. The situation is more dire in Northern Nigeria, a predominantly Islamic region that practices Sharia law and punishes homosexuality with a death sentence.

Emmanuel, a college student and a devoted fan of Area Mama on TikTok, told LGBTQ Nation that hearing about her death was gut-wrenching. He had just left a comment on a TikTok video she posted six hours before her death.

“I got the shock of my life on Thursday morning when I woke up to an Instagram blog post saying Area Mama was murdered— still in disbelief, and I quickly went to her TikTok page where I saw the comments flooded with sympathizers dropping ‘R.I.P’ messages and my heart sank,” the 22-year-old said.

“I had no idea of what happened so I quickly went to Twitter hoping to get more information about what killed her. That’s when I saw multiple graphic photos of her lifeless body lying bare on the road like roadkill. Not only did they kill her, but they also wanted to humiliate her by positioning her body on a highway and ripping her dress to expose her genitals.”

Emmanuel was most angered by the homophobic and hateful remarks made by some Nigerians in the wake of such a traumatic event.

“Just in a few hours, there were multiple TikTok videos, Twitter, and Facebook posts/comments trolling the victim, saying she deserves it and some went as far as congratulating whoever her killer was. I’ve always known Nigerians were violently homophobic, but for a deeply religious nation, I had no idea they were also emotionless zombies who showed they were incapable of basic human sympathy or logical reasoning toward queer people,” he said.

“Someone was brutally murdered, meaning that some dangerous killers are on the loose, but they are more concerned about the victim being transgender. Same with the authorities who were called to the scene of the crime where a long traffic had already piled up, but everyone, including the spectators, was worried about the discovered body having a bra on with male genitalia,” Emmanuel added.

Area Mama had a loyal fan base on social media, where she made a six to eight-part series on the story of her life, discussing her challenges, successes, childhood struggles, and abuse while growing up in a poor polygamous household.  The 33-year-old was also candid about her life as a transgender woman and the risks of being a sex worker.

“You could leave home at night to hustle and not return the next morning,” she said in a recent YouTube interview.

Through her powerful storytelling, she was able to build a fanbase on TikTok. Both fans and haters were always tuned in to hear whatever she had to say. She talked about her confrontations with clients, arrests and tussles with the police, and homophobes who tried to hurt her. She described herself as “the number one Abuja crossdresser and queen of the street.”

Chantell was frank about the abuses and violence she had to endure since she was 10, from sexual assaults to physical violence that left her with injuries and bruises. The majority of the time, she came and posted a video with a black eye, bodily injuries, and bandages. But none of these broke her; she kept on being the strong and kind human she was. She said her posts were only meant to reflect her life and educate her followers.

Three months ago, she posted a video with a lacerated arm, in which she disclosed that she had just been stabbed in the market. She also mentioned that she had gone to multiple police stations to report the incident, but she was ridiculed and turned away while hospitals refused to treat her wounds.

Most of her storytelling content can barely be found online anymore due to cyberbullying. Chantell was on the receiving end of a constant stream of harassment, forced to create new accounts because her content always gets taken down and her account deleted due to heavy reporting by people who didn’t like her. Her TikTok live videos were always filled with negative comments, which she said made her block people.

A few hours after her body was found, misinformation about her death proliferated through the blogs and graphic images of her body were circulated online. 

In her last post on Instagram on Wednesday, she said she was getting ready to see her boyfriend, while a few hours before her death, she made a post on TikTok in a cab wearing the same clothes she had on in the graphic pictures circulating online.

Nigerian blogs mocked and were making cautionary comments about her death. One blogger wrote, “Area Mama knew the consequences of being a homosexual in Nigeria and paid the price. I hope other crossdressers learn from this and repent or they will be next.”   Another post shared on Facebook said, “Abuja Homosexual Prostitute Meets His Waterloo.” Many people cheered and even praised her killers, and some even went as far as attacking people who showed sympathy for the victim.

Despite the negative publicity and slanderous lies being circulated by the local media – the news of her death caused an outpouring of grief on social media.

Her fans quickly came to her defense while expressing their sadness. A popular influencer, Angel Smith, spoke out against the negativity circulating online after the news of her death broke.

“You guys are wicked, God forbid you people and then you’ll come and be shouting at the government when you guys are inherently as wicked and sick as they are. Rest in peace, Area Mama, I hope you’re at peace now. May your killers know no peace,” she wrote on Twitter.

“Hate that Abuja Area Mama had to die such a horrible death. They were really just living life, trying to make money and pay it forth. Cruel, heartless, and hateful humans everywhere.” another Twitter user wrote.

Philip, a Nigerian LGBTQ+ rights activist, told LGBTQ Nation he strongly believes that Area Mama’s murder was a targeted hate despite what the media is reporting.

“Being transgender was bad enough to strip the victim of getting media sympathy, the news of her being a sex worker exacerbated the situation and turned the media against her. They’re saying her death was a deal gone wrong but we’re not buying it,” he said.

“Anyone who follows true crime stories knows this was a targeted attack,” he said. “She wasn’t killed on the road, her body was just dropped there and she had a visible black trauma to the left side of her face. Her perpetrators were still trying to humiliate her because she was positioned in a vertical position, dress ripped open, exposing her genitalia while the contents of her bags containing condoms and lubes poured out beside the body.”

Philip said he has no faith in the Nigerian authorities to solve this case. LGBTQ+ individuals have always been discriminated against and persecuted in Nigeria, and the police have been enablers.

The LGBTQ+ community is still reeling, and the most callous thing in these difficult times is witnessing everything unfold and knowing that queer people are not only unprotected but will never get justice if they ever become victims of this cruel world that have always viewed them as subhumans. 

“Queer lives are unprotected in Africa as a whole, and the rise of anti-LGBTQ+ bills is currently exacerbating the situation,” Philip says. “This is exactly why we are tirelessly fighting against it because it discriminates and sends the wrong message to the public that our lives do not matter and they can get away with killing us. We must keep fighting and not let hate win.”

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