Nigerian Police Officers Are Armed Robbers, Licensed To Extort Citizens With Guns: Kemi Badenoch

The British politician noted that the police are expected to be the first reliable point of security for everyone.

The leader of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom, Kemi Badenoch, has described the Nigerian police as armed robbers who intimidate ordinary people with guns.

Ms Badenoch’s latest recount of how the Nigerian police robbed her younger brother is coming after her series of comments about the bane of corruption and rot in Africa’s most populous country.

“You know, the police in Nigeria would rob us. So when people say, I had this bad experience with the police because I’m black and they’re white, I was like, well. You know, I remember the police stole my brother’s shoes and his watch”, Ms Badenoch said on a podcast by the Free Press editor Bari Weiss, on Friday.

“They took his shoes and his watch. It’s a very poor country. So people do all sorts of things”, she added.

Ms Badenoch, however, compared the Nigerian police with that of the UK, insisting that her experience with the latter was very positive.

The British politician noted that the police are expected to be the first reliable point of security for everyone, emphasising the need for them to discharge their duties with decorum and genuine sense of responsibility.

“I do. You remember my experience with the police in Nigeria was very negative. And coming to the UK, my first experience with the police was very positive. And giving people a gun is just a license to intimidate. But that’s not the bar we should use for British police. Obviously, it should be much higher.

She added, “But my experience was so positive when I was burgled. For example, the police were there, very helpful. They eventually caught the persons. So the police are the first line of defence for everything.”

Ms Badenoch has been at the centre of criticism from scores of Nigerians, including VP Kashim Shettima, who have slammed her for denigrating her home country in favour of the UK.

Mr Shettima recently told her to go ahead and change her name if she does not want any association with the “greatest black nation on earth, the nation called Nigeria.” The vice president dismissed Ms Badenoch’s denigrating comments as immaterial to the country, saying Nigeria will triumph.

However, the British politician has continued to use every opportunity in the British media to comment on Nigeria’s systemic corruption and volatile security crises.