Nigerian woman reports UK Police officer who advised Nigerian women to stop reporting their husbands to police

An activist of Nigerian descent, Modupe Debbie Ariyo, has filed a formal complaint against a Metropolitan police officer in a viral video advising Nigerian women to stop reporting their husbands to the police.

Ariyo’s complaint has led to the authorities sending the video to a committee to review it and recommend sanctions against the police officer who happens to be of Nigerian descent as well.

It would be recalled that the clip of the officer addressing a group of women of Nigerian descent, advising them to stop reporting their husbands to the police, resurfaced recently and went viral six years after it was originally recorded.

The video was recorded at Divine Restoration International Church in Camberwell, United Kingdom in 2018. The officer was accompanied to the informal gathering by three other officers.

The police officer who spoke both English and Yoruba while standing at a pulpit discussed issues like knife crimes and parenting, suggesting that the presence of a man in a home might make the children behave better.

He remarked that some Nigerian women, upon arriving in the UK, lose their regard for their husbands because of the system in place for women’s empowerment.

The officer said many Nigerian women are thrilled to find out that the UK government has arrangements for taking care of children. In contrast, there was no such thing as children benefits in Nigeria where they are coming from.

He noted that where the women came from there were effective dispute resolution mechanisms that could be resorted to in case of disputes.

The officer said that many women discarded their traditional dispute-resolution mechanisms and would rather call the police for every disagreement they had with their husbands so that they could be ultimately removed from the homes.

He said this might be counter-productive in the end because there was a role the man needed to play in the home for it to the balanced.

The Chief Executive of Afruca, Modupe Debbie Ariyo, saw the video and was infuriated.

She 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, it’s 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. Even children are victims in the home when domestic violence is going on.”

Ariyo said it was of concern that violence against Black women was being overlooked. She pointed to data from the PA News agency, which revealed that of the 21 femicide victims recorded by the Metropolitan Police in 2022, nine (43%) were Black—a higher proportion than any other ethnic group.

“We’ve been talking about violence against women but we haven’t talked about violence against Black women. Women in African and Caribbean communities.

“And so to hear a police officer who should understand the UK Domestic Violence Act of 2021, telling women that they shouldn’t call the police on their husbands, whatever the explanation is, it’s counterproductive. I felt it was an attack on Nigerian women.

“Coming from a police officer, where we see many police officers being convicted of hurting women, it’s the first thing I thought about,” Ariyo said.

Ariyo’s Afruca, a children’s safeguarding group, formally filed a complaint with the Met, drawing their attention to the video.

The police have confirmed that the footage has been referred to the Metropolitan Police’s standards unit for review.

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.

On his part, Detective Chief Superintendent Seb Adjei-Addoh disclosed that the video had been referred to the professional standards team.

Adjei-Addoh said, “The incident reported relates to an informal talk by a police member of staff made at a church in Camberwell back in 2018. The comments made by the member of the police staff categorically do not represent the position of the Met in relation to domestic abuse and are wrong. There are no circumstances where it would be appropriate for a victim-survivor of domestic abuse not to report it to the police if they feel able to do so.

“Over recent years, the Met has developed a raft of dedicated investigation teams focused on domestic abuse. Within the boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark, we work in partnership with the local authorities and third-sector charities involved in VAWG to ensure we have strategies to encourage domestic abuse reporting and support victim-survivors of domestic abuse.

“The video has been referred to our professional standards unit to assess and consider what action is to be taken. Afruca and other charities like them carry out invaluable work in the domestic abuse space, and I understand the concern this matter has caused.

“Lastly, I am keen to speak with those who have been particularly affected in an attempt to reassure them of our ongoing commitment to tackling this type of crime and protecting those who are at risk.”

You can see the earlier story and the viral video here.