A Metropolitan Police officer is under investigation after a resurfaced video showed the officer advising Nigerian women not to call the police on their husbands but to “manage it.” The video, filmed at Divine Restoration International Church in Camberwell in 2018, has sparked outrage from abuse charities and social media users. In the clip, the officer, accompanied by three other police officers, is seen addressing a group of mostly women, allegedly encouraging them to handle domestic issues privately rather than involving law enforcement.
The video, which began circulating again six years after it was recorded, has drawn criticism for promoting harmful stereotypes and discouraging victims of domestic violence from seeking help. The Metropolitan Police have since confirmed that the footage is being investigated, and the officer’s conduct will be reviewed in light of current professional standards.
This incident has raised serious concerns about police advice potentially undermining the safety and rights of domestic abuse victims, especially within vulnerable communities. Abuse charities have condemned the message conveyed in the video, emphasizing the importance of seeking police intervention when domestic violence occurs.
In the video, the officer can be heard speaking in Yoruba – a Nigerian language, as well as English, while he stands at a pulpit talking about knife crime and how sons ‘may not want to listen to their mothers” and instead prefer their fathers.
The footage goes on to show the officer allegedly saying that once Nigerian women arrive in the UK they start behaving “rudely” towards their husbands, adding that they should not call police on their husbands “but manage it.”
Police confirmed to the UK Mirror that the footage has been referred to the Met’s standards unit.
The children’s safeguarding group Africa, have expressed anger at the remarks in a letter of complaint to the Met detailing how the officer’s advice was “telling victims to stay in abusive relationships and not to seek police protection.”
Speaking to the UK Mirror, Chief Executive of Afruca, Debbie Ariyo who saw the video said: “When I heard it, I was livid. Like what do you mean? So if a man is abusing the woman, and don’t forget, domestic violence is not always about physical abuse, emotional even in terms of cultural practices, its a se.xual issue – so if a woman is being abused in the home, she shouldn’t call the police because if she does, the man will be removed from the home and the children will spiral and it will be her fault.
“If a woman is being abused, you’re saying that women shouldn’t seek police protection. “That was really bad of them, that’s just like minimising these issues in our communities. That Nigerians don’t really matter. Even children are victims in the home when domestic violence is going on.”
The investigation is ongoing, and the outcome will be closely watched as it has implications for community trust and the policing of domestic violence cases in minority communities.
Watch the video below.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1833276039264428325
