Khafi Kareem is currently starring in Big Brother in the Nigerian capital Abuja while being on unpaid leave from her job in London
ADVERTISEMENTA London Metropolitan Police officer is under investigation after appearing as a contestant on Big Brother in Nigeria without permission.
Khafi Kareem, who is currently serving as a police constable, reportedly requested permission to take part in Big Brother Naija which is currently filming in Abuja but was refused.
She took part in the show anyway after taking unpaid leave for an unrelated reason which has not been revealed.
Kareem was featured as part of the London Metropolitan Police’s publicity campaign to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first female police officers in the capital.
Speaking to the Guardian last year she said she had spent four years working as a volunteer special constable to improve life on the housing estate where she lived in west London before becoming a full time officer.
She had since passed the exams to become a detective and was planning to take the exam to be a sergeant in the spring of 2019.
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She said at the time: “I didn’t want any career to be off-limits to me because I was a female, or a black female”.
But now it seems that career could be in jeopardy as Scotland Yard confirmed in a statement that it would be carrying out an investigation into her conduct and the case had been referred to the force’s internal watchdog the Directorate of Professional Standards.
The statement said: “The Met does not support the officer’s appearance nor does she represent the Met whilst appearing on the show.
“All police officers have a duty to behave with professionalism and in a manner that does not bring the Met into disrepute whether on or off duty.
“Those who do not behave professionally risk breaching police standards of professional behaviour, and may be dealt with by way of misconduct proceedings.
“Prior to the refused request in relation to the show, the officer had requested a period of unpaid leave for an unrelated reason. This was authorised, and the officer is currently within the unpaid leave period.”
In a statement on her Twitter page, her management responded to an article in British tabloid The Sun suggesting she had brought the Met into disrepute after having sex with another contestant in the house.
It said: “Khafi’s side of the story is deliberately and conveniently omitted to sell a pre-conceived narrative while responses from “outraged colleagues” and “other papers” (sic) riddle the publication.
“This comes from a repressive culture of shaming and characterising women for their sexual decisions and life choices.
“Khafi is a proud black female police officer who prides herself in her work and has dedicated her youthful years protecting and serving with her many skills which include the ability to speak at least five international languages”.