19 Muslims were detained by the Islamic police force in the largest city in northern Nigeria on suspicion of attending a same-sex marriage.
According to the force’s spokesman Lawal Ibrahim Fagge, a tip-off led to the raid on the wedding in Kano.
He added that the couple, who had not yet exchanged vows, had managed to escape and that police were looking for them.
With a predominance of Muslims, Kano has both a secular legal system and an Islamic one.
In Nigeria as a whole, where residents of the north are predominately Muslims and those of the south are predominately Christians, homosexual acts are prohibited by both legal systems.
Kano’s Islamic police force is popularly known as the Hisbah and enforces a strict moral code.
Mr Fagge told the BBC that the police force did not intend to punish the 15 male and four female wedding guests arrested during the raid on Sunday.
Instead, the group – which he said included gay people and cross-dressers – was undergoing “counselling”, and their parents or guardians had been urged to come forward.
“We’ll explore the avenue of change before we charge them in court. First we counsel them, and involve the parents and we hope they change their lifestyle,” the Hisbah spokesman said.
Kano’s Islamic courts have never convicted anyone for being gay.
Mr Fagge said that 18 people who attended a similar wedding ceremony last year had been released after signing a document that gave an “undertaking that they would change their lifestyle”.
Rights groups in Nigeria have long campaigned for gay rights to be respected, but there is strong opposition to it in a country where many Muslims and Christians uphold conservative religious values.