Nigerian man arrested for street preaching in UK awarded £2,500 over wrongful arrest

A Nigerian Christian evangelist identified as Oluwole Ilesanmi, who was apprehended by UK Police for preaching on the streets, has been awarded £2,500 for wrongful arrest.

The 64-year-old has accepted the compensation by the Metropolitan Police as a victory for freedom of speech after he was wrongly accused of Islamophobia.

Mr Ilesanmi had been arrested after a passerby had reported him to the authorities while he was preaching outside Southgate Tube station in North London in February, prompting 2 officers to approach and handcuff him. 

He admitted to having described Islam as an ‘aberration’ but insists he was simply expressing his point of view as a Christian rather than denigrating Muslims. 

One of the police officers claimed Mr. Ilesanmi was disturbing the peace, saying: ‘No one wants to hear that. They want you to go away.’

After his handcuffing , the former had been driven far away and dumped out of the car. 

Scotland Yard has now agreed to pay Mr. Ilesanmi £2,500 for wrongful arrest and his humiliating and distressing treatment.

Mr. Ilesanmi told UK’s The Mail on Sunday:

‘I believe God loves everyone, including Muslims, but I have the right to say I that I don’t agree with Islam we are living in a Christian country, after all. I was upset when they took away my Bible. They just threw it in the police car. They would never have done that if it had been the Koran. Whatever happened to freedom of speech?’

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