A video showing a Metropolitan Police officer advising Nigerian women to stop reporting their husbands to the police but to “manage it” is now under investigation after resurfacing on social media, six years after it was originally filmed.
The video, recorded at Divine Restoration International Church in Camberwell in 2018, shows a police officer addressing a group mostly made up of women, with three officers standing by.
In the footage, the officer can be heard speaking both English and Yoruba while standing at a pulpit discussing issues like knife crime and how some sons might ignore their mothers in favour of their fathers.
The officer goes on to say that Nigerian women, upon arriving in the UK, begin acting “rudely” towards their husbands, and should refrain from calling the police on them, but rather “manage it.”
This video sparked outrage among abuse charities.
Police have now confirmed that the footage has been referred to the Metropolitan Police’s standards unit for review.
Afruca, a children’s safeguarding group, has expressed outrage over the officer’s remarks, filing a formal complaint with the Met.
In its letter, Afruca emphasized that the officer’s advice effectively encouraged victims to remain in abusive relationships and discouraged them from seeking police protection.
The Chief Executive of Afruca, Debbie Ariyo, who viewed the video, told The Mirror, “[The officer said], ‘Do not call the police on your husband, but manage it.’”
“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 always about physical abuse and emotional even in terms of cultural practices, its a sexual 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.
