The UK Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, has accused the Nigeria Police of robbing citizens instead of protecting them.
According to The Niche, Badenoch made the comment during an interview with a UK journalist.
The British journalist asked her if she trusted the UK police. In response, she said: “I do. My experience with the Nigeria Police was very negative. Coming to the UK, my experience with the British Police was very positive.
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“The police in Nigeria will rob us (laughter). When people say I have this bad experience with the police because I’m black, I say well…I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch.”
Interviewer exclaimed in shock. “They took his shoe and his watch?” Kemi continued: “It’s a very poor country. People do all sorts of things. So, giving people a gun is just a license to intimidate. But that’s not just the problem. That is not the bar we should use for the British Police. When I was burgled, for example, the police were there. They were helpful before they eventually caught the person. This was in 2004, that was 20 years ago.”
Recall that Badenoch has stirred online conversation about her ties with Nigeria following her criticisms of the country’s governance terrain and society.
In one of her interviews, she described Nigeria as a “socialist nation brimming with thieving politicians and insecurity”.
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Badenoch’s criticism of Nigeria caught the attention of Vice-President Kashim Shettima, who berated her depiction of Nigeria.
Shettima also advised Badenoch to change her first name if she no longer wants to identify with her homeland.
However, a spokesperson for Badenoch in response to Shettima said the politician stood by her statement and she’s not a PR for Nigeria.
“Kemi is not interested in doing Nigeria’s PR; she is the leader of the opposition in the UK,” the spokesperson said.
“She tells the truth. She tells it like it is. She’s not going to couch her words, and she stands by what she says.”
Recently, Badenoch said she identifies more with the Yoruba ethnic group than the Nigerian entity.
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The UK parliamentarian said she is proud of her Yoruba ancestry which has given her a “very strong identity”.
The Conservative leader said she “does not have anything in common” with Nigerians from the northern part of the country.
“I find it interesting that everybody defines me as being Nigerian. I identify less with the country than with the specific ethnicity [Yoruba]. That’s what I really am,” she said in an interview with the Spectator.
“I have nothing in common with the people from the north of the country, the Boko Haram where the Islamism is, those were our ethnic enemies and yet you end up being lumped in with those people.”
Badenoch was born in the UK in 1980 to Nigerian Yoruba parents. She returned to Nigeria, where she grew up. Badenoch finally departed for the UK when she turned 16.
The 44-year-old politician served as shadow business and trade secretary before her election as leader of the Conservative Party. She maintains a hardline stance on immigration and has made excuses for Britain’s colonial past.
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