Nigerian-born footballer, Arnaut Danjuma Groeneveld, who plays as a winger for Bournemouth, has revealed he was mistakenly arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in the UK just days before the Coronavirus lockdown.
The 23-year-old who was born in Lagos, Nigeria to a Dutch father and Nigerian mother recalls how he was walking through Bournemouth town centre in order to get some food when police apprehended him.
Speaking with The Sun, the Netherlands international said: ‘Suddenly there was a police car there and two police officers came out of it. One said, “Put your hands on the fence!”
‘I asked, “What did I do?” They said, “Put your hands on the fence, shut up!”
‘So I put my hands on the fence and asked again, “What did I do?” They said to wait for the other officers to arrive.’
According to him, the police were looking for a suspect in a stabbing incident on March 16, and mistakenly arrested him.
‘They came and I asked again. It was embarrassing. People were taking pictures and it got me frustrated so I went mad on the cop.
‘I told him things I shouldn’t have said. But I got frustrated and angry and in the end, he said, “You’re not the one we’re looking for, you can go”.’
The Sun reports that police did not apologise to Danjuma for detaining him for the wrong reason.
The club reportedly asked him if he wanted to make a formal complaint about the incident, but he refused and said he would prefer to keep focusing on his return from injury.
Danjuma also revealed that he’s been racially abused in the past, while noting that his recent encounter with police wasn’t the first time.
‘I’ve been through racism a lot and have developed a skin against it,’ said Danjuma.
‘There are loads of things that happen regularly to me. The police will stop me every now and then just because I drive a huge car.
‘Then they will just say it’s a check-up, but you know it’s not a check-up.’
The Dutchman is proud of the anti-racism protests going on right now following the killings of black people in the hands of Police.
He also says people need more education on history, and that ‘if you don’t teach [children] values, they will always take a wrong turn.’
The Bournemouth winger who signed for the club for £13.7million in 2019 from Club Bruges, has played nine games for the Cherries so far this season.
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