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A Christian street preacher to whom his Bible was confiscated while he was handcuffed by the police received £ 2,500 for an unjustified arrest.
A video Oluwole Ilesanmi pleading with a policeman for "not taking my Bible" has been seen millions of times since his arrest in February.
Ilesanmi was arrested in front of Southgate Subway Station in Enfield, North London, by Metropolitan Police officers after being accused of Islamophobia by a pbaderby.
The Christian admitted to describing Islam as an "aberration", but simply said that he was simply expressing his opinion rather than preaching hatred against Muslims.
Images of the arrest show 64-year-old Ilesanmi, informed by a police officer that he "posed problems, disrupted people's lives" and that "no one wanted to hear that. They want you to leave.
The video shows a policeman taking a Bible from Ilesanmi, as the preacher says, "No, no, no, no, no. Do not take my Bible. One of the officers then said, "You should have thought about that before you were racist. "
Ilesanmi was taken in a police car and driven to a bus stop one kilometer and a half from his stop.
Ilesanmi said Sunday that he received £ 2,500 for wrongful arrest for his humiliating and painful treatment. Sunday, he told the Mail: "I believe that God loves everyone, including Muslims, but I have the right to say that I do not agree with Islam – we live in a Christian country after all.
"I was upset when they took away my Bible. They simply threw him in the police car. They would never have done it in the Qur'an. What happened to the freedom of expression? "
Ilesanmi will present a petition on Tuesday at the Home Office calling for better protection of street preachers. The campaign, supported by Christian Concern Group, has been signed more than 38,000 times.
Oluwole Ilesanmi with her Bible before an officer took her away. A photograph: Christian Concern
A spokesman for Scotland Yard said: "The MPS has reached an agreement with a man resulting from an incident on February 23 near the Southgate subway station. It would not be appropriate to discuss further details on this matter. "
Superintendent Neil Billany, of the force, said, "The Met respects and defends the right of every individual to practice his freedom of expression, including street preachers of all religions and all walks of life.
"However, if the language used by someone is perceived as a potential hate crime, we can only investigate.
"It's the role of the police, even if it's decided later that their actions are not criminal. In this case, it was considered appropriate to remove the man from the area. "
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