Nigerian man arrested in UK for preaching awarded £2,500

A Nigerian man and also a Christian street preacher, who wrongly accused of Islamophobia. And was arrested by the police a few weeks ago. He has been granted bail with compensation of £2,500 for illegal arrest.

Oluwole Ilesanmi, 64, has accepted the payment by the Metropolitan Police as a victory for freedom of expression after being wrongly accused of Islamophobia.

The former dentist was preaching outside the Southgate station in North London in February when two officers approached him. A passerby had called the police before and accused Mr. Ilesanmi of hate speech.

He admitted to describing Islam as an “aberration” but insists that he simply expressed his point of view as a Christian instead of denigrating Muslims. One of the police said that Mr. Ilesanmi was disturbing the peace, saying: “Nobody wants to hear that. They want you to go.”

He was handcuffed before the officer approved the camera. Mr. Ilesanmi was forcefully smuggled in a police car and driven several kilometers away. There the grandfather was “de-arrested” and got out of the car.

Now Scotland Yard has agreed to pay Mr. Ilesanmi sum of £2,500 for illegal detention and for his martyring and painful treatment. Mr. Ilesanmi told the UK Post on Sunday: “I believe God loves everyone, including Muslims, but I have the right to say 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?”