Over 200 Protesters Storm Gay-Rights Office in Ivory Coast

An irate mob has stormed the headquarters of Ivory Coast's most prominent gay-rights organisation, seeding chaos inside and nearit. According to Associated Press, nearly 200 people stormed the offices of Alternative in the commercial capital of Cote d'Ivoire, Abidjan, and got away with computers on January 25, 2014, Saturday. The attack happened in a West African nation generally viewed as moderate and sometimes considered a safe haven for homosexuals fleeing persecution elsewhere. The raid was a development of anti-gay protests, which have been staged for a couple of days across the country. The protesters heaved sacks of garbage over the property's exterior walls and scattered trash and broken glass at the entrance Signs hung on walls demanded "Stop the homos!"and"Pedes get out!""Pede" is short for paedophile and commonly used in West Africa to insult gay men. "Everything they could take was taken, and the rest was broken,"the office worker said, adding that a private security guard was taken to hospital after sustaining wounds to his face. The attack has already been condemned by the global community, including the US Ambassador in the country, human rights groups, such as 'Front Line Defenders' among others. The Ivory Coast attacks come amid an increasingly hostile environment for sexual minorities in Africa, most notably in Nigeria, where President Goodluck Jonathan earlier this month signed a law banning gay associations and gay marriage. Dozens have been arrested recently throughout Nigeria since then. In the northern city of Bauchi, protesters tried to attack seven men accused of belonging to a gay organization, demanding they be stoned to death