A Nigerian woman on the run from police who want to charge her with homosexuality says she is not a lesbian and the ‘wedding' she is accused of having with four other women was nothing more than a fundraiser to help the women marry men. Last week local media in the city of Kano reported that Aunty Maiduguri, 45, married the four as 2,000 guests looked on. The wedding was followed by two days of feasting. Residents in the Moslem region complained to police who issued an arrest warrant. Homosexuality is illegal under Islamic Sharia law and under the Nigerian criminal code. Kano is one of 12 Islamic states in northern Nigeria. It introduced Sharia law in 2000, making homosexuality a capital crime. In the rest of the country, under federal law anyone convicted could face up to 14 years behind bars. On Sunday Maiduguri was tracked down by the BBC. She said she ‘never practised' lesbianism. "It's a lie, it's unbelievable. I have never in my life seen where a lady can marry four ladies at one time," she said. "I have never practiced - never heard the word 'lesbian' - truly," she told the BBC. Maiduguri said she has gone to police and has a lawyer. She said she will take the case to court in an effort "to clear her name". According to Maiduguri the "wedding" was actually a ceremony to raise money for the women's weddings to men. Nigeria has some of the world's most repressive laws against gays. 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: 365gay.com (m)