Nigeria's Kano State Government has ordered police to arrest five women – Aunty Maiduguri and her four spouces – after an elaborate polygamous lesbian union last weekend. An estimated 2,000 guests watched Maiduguri, 45, wed the four women in a ceremony that was followed by two days of feasting and merry-making, reports local media. But neighbours tipped off the authorities, who enforce Sharia law. "As defenders of Sharia law, we shall not allow this unhealthy development to take place," Rabo Abdulkarim, deputy commander of the state Islamic police, told This Day newspaper. "We are investigating the matter with a view to find the culprits and punish them." Last year it became a crime for same-sex Nigerian couples to travel abroad to marry. The government also is considering legislation that would strip gays and lesbians of all civil rights. The bill started out as a ban on same-sex marriage and has been revised to make it a crime for more than two gay people to be in the same venue at the same time. It prohibits LGBT social or civil rights groups from forming. It would be illegal to sell or rent property to same-sex couples, watch a gay film or video, visit an LGBT web site, or express same-sex love in a letter to one's partner. The legislation goes so far as to make it a criminal offense to impart information of HIV/AIDS to gays or for non-gays to meet with any group of gays for any purpose. The penalty would be five years in prison with hard labour. Ref: This Day, CNN, 365gay.com (m)