Transgender TikTok influencer found dead on the side of the road hours after going to see her boyfriend
A well-known transgender social media influencer has been found dead.
TikTok star Abuja Area Mama, aged 33, was found beaten and bruised along a highway in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, earlier this month. Mama, who was a sex worker, frequently posted about being transgender and her working life. She never actually revealed her full name online, and sometimes also referred to herself sometimes as Ifeanyi. She built a loyal online fanbase, however, by being open about her life.
Her death comes after she had spoken about fearing for her life. Last year, she posted about how she had been attacked and said the incident had left her worried for her safety.
Last September Mama, who described herself as “the number one Abuja cross-dresser and queen of the street” on her TikTok profile, said she had been stabbed by an unidentified person in what were unclear circumstances.
Nigeria is a deeply conservative society and people who step outside the norms are often targeted. People who are thought to be in same-sex relationships are criminalised in Africa’s most-populous nation, and many LGBTQ+ Nigerians live in fear.
In her last post on Instagram, which was posted the day before she died, Mama had said she was getting ready to go and see her boyfriend. Just hours later her body was found.
Local police suspect she has been murdered. Abuja police chief Benneth Igweh has since ordered a "thorough and discreet” investigation into the death. No arrests have been made in the case at the time of writing (on Tuesday August 13).