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Nigeria’s Umaru Dikko was the minister of transport in the civilian government run by Shehu Shagari from 1979 until the end of 1983 when the country’s army overthrew the administration and installed Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari as the head of state. The new military government under Buhari jailed scores of government ministers under Shagari’s administration for corruption. Dikko, who criticized the military regime under Buhari, managed to flee to London reportedly dressed as a priest.

While in London, he continued to be an outspoken critic of the military government, which also accused him of corruption and of stealing millions of dollars from a rice distribution program he was in charge of. Dikko denied the accusations. Still, the military government labeled him as “Nigeria’s most wanted man” and devised a plan to kidnap him off the streets of London and bring him back to Nigeria to face trial.

The Independent reported that Nigerian intelligence services and undercover agents (alongside several Israelis who were alleged to be members of Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad) tracked Dikko to a house in west London. The joint Nigerian-Israeli team placed the former minister’s house under surveillance. An Israeli alleged former Mossad agent, Alexander Barak, reportedly led the kidnap team, which included a Nigerian intelligence officer, Maj Mohammed Yusufu, and Israeli nationals Felix Abitbol and Dr. Lev-Arie Shapiro. One of the team members was to inject Dikko with an anesthetic.

On July 5, 1984, Dikko was kidnapped outside his home in London, bundled into the back of a van and locked in a large crate addressed to the Nigerian Ministry of External Affairs in the then capital city, Lagos. The kidnappers injected Dikko before laying him, unconscious, in the crate with the Israeli anesthetist by his side in the crate to keep him breathing. Barak and Abitbol were in a second crate. The two boxes were sealed. The kidnappers drove Dikko to Stansted airport to put him on a waiting Nigerian cargo plane to be flown back to Lagos.

Unknown to the kidnappers, Dikko’s secretary had witnessed the abduction. She called the police. The British government subsequently ordered customs officials at airports, ports and border crossings to be extremely observant when inspecting Nigeria-bound vessels. At Stansted, one young customs officer, Charles David Morrow, having heard about the news of a kidnapping, ordered the crates to be opened just when the Nigerian cargo plane was minutes from taking off.

“The day had gone fairly normally until about 3 pm. Then we had the handling agents come through and say that there was a cargo due to go on a Nigerian Airways 707, but the people delivering it didn’t want it manifested,” Morrow recalled what happened to the BBC.

“I went downstairs to see who they were and what was happening. I met a guy who turned out to be a Nigerian diplomat called Mr Edet. He showed me his passport and he said it was diplomatic cargo. Being ignorant of such matters, I asked him what it was, and he told me it was just documents and things.”

Morrow said Nigerian intelligence officials and diplomatic staff argued that the crates could not be opened as they were protected by diplomatic immunity.

Morrow knew that any cargo designated as a diplomatic bag is protected by the Vienna Convention from being opened by customs officers. Thus, he got on the phone to the British Foreign Office.”To qualify as a ‘diplomatic bag’ they clearly had to be marked with the words ‘Diplomatic Bag’ and they had to be accompanied by an accredited courier with the appropriate documentation. It was fair to say they had a Nigerian diplomat – I’d seen his passport – but they didn’t have the right paperwork and they weren’t marked ‘Diplomatic Bag’,” he said.

The final decision was that the crates could be opened. Customs officers called anti-terrorist police, cordoned off the area and evacuated airport staff. They then opened the crate in the presence of the police. They found Dikko unconscious inside one of the crates. Next to him was the doctor who had injected him.

“He [Dikko] had no shirt on, he had a heart monitor on him, and he had a tube in his throat to keep his airway open. No shoes and socks and handcuffs around his ankles. The Israeli anesthetist was in there, clearly to keep him alive,” recalled Morrow.

Customs officials found the other kidnappers in the other crate. “I remember the very violent way in which I was grabbed and hurled into a van, with a huge fellow sitting on my head – and the way in which they immediately put on me handcuffs and chains on my legs,” Dikko told the BBC a year after the incident.

At the end of the day, the Nigerian intelligence officer and the three Israelis were all convicted of the crime and sent to prison. The governments of Nigeria and Israel however denied involvement in the crime. The incident marred relations between Britain and Nigeria for two years. “The kidnap caused one of the worst-ever diplomatic crises between Britain and Nigeria,” historian Max Siollun wrote in The Independent of London in 2012. “The Nigerian high commissioner was declared persona non grata in London, and the head of Nigeria Airways narrowly escaped being arrested by British police. Diplomatic relations between Nigeria and Britain were suspended for two years.”

Dikko returned to Nigeria a decade after the incident. He later died on July 1 in London, leaving behind “two wives, 11 children and many grandchildren.”

Born in Wamba, in central Nigeria, in 1936, Dikko had studied at the University of London and worked with the BBC for some time. He was later a commissioner in the northern province of Nigeria (now Kaduna State) and the manager of the presidential campaign of his brother-in-law, Shagari.

After his abduction, he went to law school in London and was admitted to the bar. He reentered Nigerian politics in the 1990s, and before his death, he became chairman of the disciplinary committee of the People’s Democratic Party, led by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Niecy Nash felt it was about time to set the record straight about her past and current relationship when she appeared on Jada Pinkett-Smith’s “Red Table Talk” with her ‘hersband,’ Jessica Betts.

Nash said she’d “never been with a woman before” Betts, in an exclusive premiere clip obtained by People.

“I was not suppressing my sexuality my whole life. I love who I love. At one point in my life, I married twice, and I love those people. And today I love this person. I’ve done everything I wanted to do on my terms and my way. So, my choice now in a partner has nothing to do with who I’ve always been. It’s a matter of who I am in this moment.”

The 51-year-old’s children Dia, 21, Donielle, 25, and son Dominic, 28 were a bit surprised by the news of her marriage.

“My daughters were like, ‘Wait what?’ My youngest daughter, she reminded me, she was like, ‘Wait a minute mom, are you the same mom that was like girl, I’m strictly d***ly?’ And I was like, ‘Wah, wah. Like yeah, but no.’ “

Nash added, “My son was like, ‘Wooow.’”

Claws star Nash said ‘I Do’ to talented singer Betts in a gorgeous outdoor ceremony last August. Nash shared photos of their nuptials that month on social media, with the caption, “Mrs. Carol Denise Betts” with the hashtag #LoveWins.”

The happy news was shared through their beautiful photos; the couple both dressed in white. Betts strut her stuff in a cream suit with no jacket and Nash wore a white lace gown.

Betts also shared a photo of their ceremony on Instagram and wrote, “I got a whole Wife @niecynash1 #Bestofbothworlds #LoveWins.” 

The Reno 911 actress captioned another photo in her Instagram story “#PlotTwist” with a rainbow emoji.

Nash was married to Don Nash from 1994 to 2007. After their split, she and Jay Tucker got hitched in 2011. In December 2019, she and Tucker got divorced.

While some people felt this announcement was her ‘coming out’, Nash believes otherwise. On The Ellen DeGeneres Show earlier this month, she cleared the air.

“A lot of people say that, like, ‘Oh, you came out!’ and I say, ‘Well, from out of where?’ You know what I mean?” Nash said of her sexuality. “I wasn’t anywhere to come out of. I wasn’t living a sexually repressed life when I was married to men, I just loved them when I loved them. And now I love her.”

A Chinese man who a video showed was being pulled on a trolley by a Zambian in the East African country may be deported if investigations find him “wanting”, authorities say.

A permanent secretary in Zambia’s Ministry of Labor, Chanda Kaziya, told the BBC that government will investigate what was captured on video as well as the issues surrounding the Zambian man pulling his Chinese boss. The video went viral via social media platforms and was condemned by many as “racist”.

The video shows a Chinese man closing what seems to be a storehouse. He then stepped onto the trolley that was pulled by the Zambian now identified as John Zulu. But no farther than a few yards of being pulled by the Zambian, the Chinese man was accosted by two other Zambian men who asked why he was being chauffered.

“You cannot walk? You don’t do this!,” the men can be heard asking the Chinese man several times. They then asked their compatriot to stop giving the ride and walked briskly with Zulu and his boss away from where they had met them.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Lusaka, Zambia’s capital city, Miles Sampa, announced via a Facebook post that Zulu had been contracted to a new job by the landlord of the Chinese expatriate.

Sampa’s post read: “The good news on carousel saga is that the landlord of the Mall Lamasat Ltd have [sic] offered John Zulu a job with their main premises management [sic] office. He further indicated to possibly terminate the tenancy agreement with the tenant that exhibited racial abuse towards his black employee by getting pulled on a trolley for over six hour [sic].”

China’s interests in Africa over the last decade have translated into many more Chinese people in African countries now more than ever before. Many of them are business owners who do everything from manufacturing to retailing. However, citizens of dozens of African countries have reported abuse from Chinese bosses as well as culture clashes.

Controversial sports journalist Jason Whitlock raised some eyebrows during his January 20 appearance on the Tucker Carlson Tonight show on Fox News when he likened the Black Lives Matter movement and Antifa to KKK, claiming they’re no different from the White Supremacist hate group.

During the interview, the 53-year-old claimed the BLM were more of like the Democratic Party’s “enforcement arm.”

“Well, I compare Black Lives Matter to the KKK. I really do,” he said. “And some people don’t understand it, but if you go back to the 1860s, after the Emancipation Proclamation, the KKK was started, and it was the enforcement arm of the Democratic Party. And what’s the enforcement arm of the Democratic Party right now? Black Lives Matter and Antifa. They will come to your home and violate your home, try to intimidate the people in your home if they disagree with you politically.”

The Black Lives Matter movement was birthed on social media in 2013 following the acquittal of George Zimmerman – the White man who fatally shot Black and unarmed 17-year-old high school student, Trayvon Martin, the year prior. Since its formation, the organization has held largely peaceful anti-racism and anti-police brutality protests against Blacks and other people of color. Whitlock, however, said they propagate negative values.

“Black Lives Matter [is] a Marxist organization. Marxism is hostile toward religion; that’s why I’m glad you went there today. These are atheist values being expressed from our leaders, demonizing individual citizens here in America, branding them as white supremacists because they decided, because we disagree with their opinion about something. This is lunacy, and it’s dangerous.”

Whitlock doubled down on his stance in another email he sent to the IndyStar, calling the movement a “cleverly marketed slogan that provides cover for extremists to undermine racial progress and bully American citizens to support Democrat politicians.”

“Despite the sweet-sounding name, Black Lives Matter acts as a racial divider, no different from the KKK,” he said.

He also compared how similar the KKK’s nightly shenanigans was similar to the Black Lives Matter movement’s activities, claiming the latter also uses violence and stokes intimidation.

“Black Lives Matter and Antifa protests have primarily terrorized and destroyed property in (B)lack communities at night,” he said. “BLM and Antifa have attempted to intimidate white Republicans. BLM protests have been violent and caused the assassination of law enforcement officers and other citizens.”

A professor and historian at the University of Notre Dame, Richard Pierce, however, labeled his comments as “provocative, inflammatory screed”, telling the IndyStar he did not want to delve too deep into proving why Whitlock is wrong.

“Nonetheless, I will say this. The KKK rioters commonly wore hoods to camouflage their identity and mimicked confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest’s marauding practices honed during the Civil War. Their very anonymity added to their intimidation,” Pierce said. “Protesters, prior to COVID-19 safeguard measures, were mostly unmasked. I’ve never seen a hooded Black Lives Matter protester.”

Despite the objections, however, an adamant Whitlock shared a follow-up op-ed further justifying his sentiments.

Black women are made of gold and Jennifer King is made of that and more. She is a football history and a shining example to all the little Black girls who dare to dream. King is now the first-ever Black woman to get a full-time coaching job in the NFL. The Washington Football Team on Tuesday added King to their roster as assistant running backs coach.

This announcement comes off the back of her internship during the 2020 off-season at the Washington Football Team under head coach Ron Rivera and running backs coach Randy Jordan.

According to Rivera, nobody is more deserving of this promotion than King because aside from her experience playing football for 12 years, she always puts in the hard work and can connect well with everyone on the team with her excellent communication skills.

“She demonstrated all of the qualities that are needed to work full-time on my staff. She is a hard worker, a great communicator, and a quality person. Coach King is always eager to learn and has shown tremendous growth since starting here last season.”

“Coach King is well deserving of the promotion,” Rivera added. “She earned this opportunity with her hard work. The sky is truly the limit for her.”

Aside from spending time interning in the offseason with the Carolina Panthers in 2018 and 2019, King also worked with the Arizona Hotshots of the AAF in 2019 as an assistant WRs coach and was an offensive assistant at Dartmouth that same year. “I am very pleased to have Coach King back to assist me full-time in the running backs room,” RBs coach Jordan said.

He also reiterated what head coach Rivers said and went on to praise King’s work ethic. “She was extremely helpful last year in seeing the game from a different perspective, and she was a tremendous communicator in our room. I look forward to continuing to collaborate as we move forward in our program and as she moves forward in her coaching career,” he added.

During her 12 years as a player, from 2006-17, King, 36, was a seven-time All-American quarterback, receiver, and safety and with two national championships under her belt with the Carolina Phoenix and New York Sharks, according to NFL.com.

There is a new movement in NFL for women coaching and King is at the helm of this wave together with the first woman to be appointed assistant coach, Lori Locust, who was made the assistant defensive line coach for Tampa Bay in March 2019.

King, Locust and assistant strength and conditioning coach Maral Javadifar made history as the first female coaches to face off during a playoff game. The three were among a record six female coaches on teams to play in the post-season, BBC said.

In a statement on the Washington Football Team website, King said: “It’s a direct testament to those coaches who are forward thinking and opening up the entire pool when they’re looking for people, to hire people to make their programmes better.

“I don’t think it’s an oddity that those play-off teams had so many female coaches involved because those coaches created cultures of growth and inclusion, and those things generally create wins,” King, who also has experience coaching basketball, added.

It’s common for entrepreneurs to become inspired by their interests and close circle. One Black woman was able to use her background in chemistry to create a unique apparel brand to celebrate the beauty of dark skin.

Deirdre Roberson is the founder of Eumelanin, a unique clothing line that emphasizing the beauty of darker skin tones. The name and logo behind the brand were inspired by her interest in science. Since its inception in 2018, the brand has managed to expand its reach across the country and be showcased at mainstream events geared towards Black audiences. The Detroit native manufactures all of her items in her hometown to give more opportunities to her local community with the expansion of her business.

Roberson says one of her biggest influences behind creating the brand was to speak out on colorism and help other brown and darker completed shades feel beautiful in their own skin having experienced her own battles learning to love her brown hue. “Colorism does not only affect black people but people of color around the world,” she said in an interview with Black Business.

“Eumelanin is a brand designed to challenge behavior that does not honor any of us — behavior too many of us have accommodated and tolerated because we were afraid to speak up.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced entrepreneurs around the country to pivot their businesses in order to stay afloat through the public health crisis. For one Washington D.C. private chef, quarantining with his family, which includes his young daughter, inspired him to start a new venture by creating a health-conscious cookbook for children.

Like many business owners, chef Anthony Thomas saw his usual traffic began to drastically slow down due to COVID-19 restrictions. As a result, he found himself spending more time with his daughter, Ashlyn, who served as his muse for the project.

“She lights up when we are in the grocery store,” he said in an email interview. “I can recall spending a whole morning in the grocery store, literally explaining every fruit and vegetable to her. I thought to myself, I’m sure many parents find themselves explaining the entire grocery store to their child, so what better way to do it than having a book that touches on everything.”

The Little Vegan is a colorful collection of easy recipes to do with kids during quarantine. Thomas who says he’s been a vegan for some time and that these easy meals can help others practice a healthier lifestyle while they are at home.

“I studied different foods and recipes. When I hear customers say they want to change their eating habits but refuse to, the options are disappointing,” he says. “Some of the best dishes I have created have been vegan, and I wanted to share that experience with anyone thinking of changing their diet or are loyal to the vegan lifestyle.

The Little Vegan cook is available for purchase on Amazon. 

Most kids like to enjoy a bowl of cereal in the morning for breakfast. For one Black male entrepreneur, his love of the treat inspired him to develop his own brand of cereal dedicated to offering more representation of Black culture for youth.

Connecticut-based Nic King is the owner of Proud Puff Cereal, a vegan-friendly cereal featuring characters representing various aspects of African American culture. He came up with the idea in the middle of the night and said the idea behind the box design was to offer a positive representation of a Black family and household with his characters.

“I was sitting up in my bed and pulled out my phone and started scrolling in my phone seeing all these scenes from Minneapolis. And seeing a lot of companies talking about their initiatives involving Black creatives and going forward to help out the Black community,” King said in an interview with The Darien (CT) Times. 

 “The whole box has meaning, from the characters to a two-parent Black household, to the positive affirmations on the back of the box, as well as the facts on the side about iconic Black legends that helped shape our culture”

King revealed on his Instagram page that he has already received 1,000 pre-orders for his cereal and shared the company’s progress toward mass production. This brings the total to 4,000 since the new year began. He explained that he is looking for a larger crowdfunding platform to raise funds to grow his products and capital to produce large quantities for customers.

“In today’s climate, I believe a product like this is so important. We’ve been dealing with blatant racism, why Black Lives Matter Too, Diversity Inclusion, Systemic racism and so much more,” King writes on his website. “This cereal isn’t only for black people but rather it is a cereal owned by a black man. This is a cereal any and all families can enjoy as they start their morning on a journey to having a great day.”

The San Diego Assemblymember and Chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus, Shirley Weber, has been nominated by Gov. Gavin Newsom as the next California Secretary of State. If approved by the state legislature, Weber will be the first Black woman to ever hold the position of California Secretary of State.

The 72-year-old has represented the 79th Assembly District since 2012. She was a professor at the San Diego State University and has served on the San Diego Board of Education.

After confirmation, Weber will be the fourth woman to be named California’s Secretary of State otherwise known as California’s chief elections officer, a role Weber was born to hold because her family has been involved in getting people to vote.

The California native’s parents were sharecroppers from Arkansas who fled a lynch mob and finally settled in Los Angles. Weber’s family fled Arkansas when she was only three because her sharecropper father had refused to “back down during a dispute with a white farmer”, a report said. Per a press release, Weber’s father did not get to vote until his 30s and her grandfather died before the Voting Rights Act passed in 1965, so voting was only a dream he held on to till he died.

“Dr. Weber is a tireless advocate and change agent with unimpeachable integrity,” Newsom said in a written statement, noting her family’s trek to Los Angeles from the rural South where they were not allowed to vote, LA Times reports.

As a child in South Central Los Angeles, her parents were voting activists who availed their living room for the state to use as a local polling station. Weber recalls seeing them rearrange furniture at their home to serve as a polling site for different elections.

“Now, she’ll be at the helm of California’s elections as the next Secretary of State — defending and expanding the right to vote and serving as the first African American to be California’s Chief Elections Officer,” said Newsom.

Retired professor Weber earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees at UCLA. She received her doctorate from the same school at the age of 26 and worked for over four decades at the Department of Africana Studies at San Diego State University.

The mother of two and wife of the late California state Judge Daniel Weber said she is up for the challenge, adding that the integrity of the voting system will be her priority.

“I am excited to be nominated for this historic appointment as the secretary of state of California,” Weber said. I thank Governor Newsom for the confidence he’s placed in me and his belief that I will stand strong for California. Being the first African-American woman in this position will be a monumental responsibility, but I know that I am up for the challenge,” she said, ABC7 reported.

She has always fought for the passage of bills for those who are unable to fight for themselves and now she will be in a better position to continue. “Expanding voting rights has been one of the causes of my career and will continue to motivate me as I assume my new constitutional duties,” she added.

Her predecessor, Alex Padilla, was appointed around the same time by Gov. Newsom to represent California at the senate, a seat previously held by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. The appointment makes Padilla California’s first Latino U.S. senator.

Padilla refers to Weber as a fierce advocate for civil rights and voting rights. She is also a mentor to many in her community and has created a leadership network for young women of color.

Bridgeman Sports and Media, a company owned by former NBA star and entrepreneur Junior Bridgeman, has become the new owner of Ebony Magazine after a successful bid to purchase the bankrupt media firm for $14 million.

Founded in 1945 by John H. Johnson, the magazine enjoyed a wide readership before a drop in ad revenues and the internet led to its fall. According to the Wall Street Journal, a bankruptcy judge was expected to approve the deal on Tuesday.

The magazine was forced into Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in July by its creditors for defaulting on $10 million in loans, according to Chicago Tribune. However, the bankruptcy was converted into a voluntary Chapter 11 reorganization in September, the Tribune added.

Despite the woes of Ebony, Bridgeman, 67, is optimistic of returning the once-revered Black-owned publication in America to profit and to a place of prominence in American culture. He said, with “the right ideas and execution”, the plan could materialize in no time. “Nothing is ever easy, but this would be, I think, a labor of love,” Bridgeman said.

He told the WSJ that Ebony portrayed Black excellence adding that he sees no reason it could not regain its old status. He also said that while there will be monthly print publications, it will remain largely digital. “When you look at Ebony, you look at the history not just for Black people, but of the United States,” Bridgeman told the Tribune. “I think it’s something that a generation is missing and we want to bring that back as much as we can.”

The ex-NBA star played for Milwaukee Bucks for 10 seasons before moving to the Los Angeles Clippers to ply his trade for two seasons. Upon retiring, he built and sold one of the largest U.S. restaurant franchisees.

Ebony wasn’t his first attempt to buy a media organization. He made an effort to acquire Sports Illustrated but later abandoned the idea last year. He is now the owner of Lenexa-based Heartland Coca-Cola Bottling Company whose distribution territory includes Kansas, Missouri, and Southern Illinois.

Growing up in Greenville, South Carolina, Jasmine Twitty knew she wanted to serve her communities. While in elementary school, she was in girl scouts and church youth groups, where she learned the trailblazing work of influential figures including presidential candidate Shirley Chisholm.

“These are people in power, and they have the influence to shape society and the laws that govern our everyday lives. I want to do that!” she told herself. But she didn’t set her mind towards becoming a judge until after college.

Following years of work in bond court, she took measures towards pursuing judgeship. After a lot of hard work and determination, Twitty, in 2015, became the youngest judge to ever be appointed or elected in the United States when she was sworn in as an Associate Judge of the municipal court for the city of Easley, SC at the age of 25.

“The day I was sworn in felt surreal,” she said in an interview in 2016. “My job is to oversee the initial proceeding in a criminal case. As a judge, I must remain impartial, not get emotionally involved. I had to learn that early on, working in night court, seeing what things people are capable of.”

Indeed, being an African-American judge for the municipal court in Easley, South Carolina—a predominately white town— meant Twitty had a lot to deal with. But that was nothing new to a trailblazer like her, who had gained a wide range of experiences working long hours as a night clerk for a bond court.

Born on December 4, 1989, in Greenville, South Carolina, Twitty attended St. Anthony of Padua Catholic School and graduated from J. L. Mann High School in Easley in 2007. She described her childhood as “one of those super-smart little kids who might be called “mouthy.” Her parents, however, appreciated her vocabulary, she said, and with her mother being a dedicated social worker, she was raised to be of service to her communities.

After graduating from the College of Charleston in 2010, with her BA in Political Science, she knew she was ready to work in public service. Twitty then applied for a clerk position at the Greenville County Bond Court. “My job was to coordinate bond hearings and deal with paperwork. The hours were long, but I was excited. I was the youngest person there and asked 1001 questions a day,” she said.

Being a night court clerk for almost five years, Twitty learned more about judgeship, and soon, she realized she could go for it. Twitty wasn’t required to attend law school because, in South Carolina, summary court judges are appointed and don’t need a law degree. The city council is the governing body that appoints judges for the municipal court. Consulting her family and mentors, Twitty began steps towards pursuing this career. She completed a training program and passed a certification examination before entering the interviewing process.

In August 2015, she became America’s youngest judge. Four years later, she was appointed as a municipal judge and lead judicial officer for the City of Travelers Rest, SC.

Twitty, now 31, explained to Forbes this October how she improves her work-life balance. “My mental clarity comes from diet and exercise, and from truly unplugging when I’m off work. That can come from travel or food experiences, or even just silencing my phones when I’m at home. I’m also particular about the spaces I put myself in and the people I surround myself with.”

Twitty, as a Board Member of Upstate Network and co-founder of her local chapter of LeadHER, has been empowering women in career development. With several recognitions including being named South Carolina Top 20 Under 40, Honorary Georgia Citizen, and Talented Tenth Top 10 Young Professional, Twitty has advised women pursuing their dreams to be true to themselves. She urges them not to compromise anything for the sake of an opportunity, “because you’ll pay for it later.”

A Black dentist in Manhattan is suing the City of New York for $5 million after claiming he was racially profiled by NYPD cops who allegedly accused him of breaking into his own office while he was working late.

According to the New York Post, the incident occurred on March 9 when Dr. Benjamin Shirley was taking out trash from his office around midnight. Video camera footage shows officers outside his office shinning their torchlights to check what’s going on inside, with the notice of claim alleging the officers demanded Shirley show his identification.

Shirley’s lawyer, Reza Rezvani, told the news outlet that though his client informed officers he was the owner of the building, the officers – via intercom – allegedly threatened to break in if he did not comply with their orders.

Per the notice of claim, the two officers in the video allegedly “attempted to unlawfully gain entry to the building by force and repeatedly called [Shirley] threatening to destroy his property and enter with force if he did not come outside despite the fact that at all times, they lacked any probable cause or reasonable belief that [Shirley] had committed any crime.”

The claim accused the officers of negligence, false arrest, unlawful detainment, illegal search and seizure and trespass.

“They were threatening to break in, they were threatening to break down the security equipment, they were threatening to break down the door and go inside,” Rezvani told The Post.

The claim also alleged the encounter left Shirley fearing for his life, leaving him to call 911. “I’m actually being harassed by the cops here,” he said in the call obtained by the news outlet. “I’m pretty scared here. I’m working in my office and they shine the flashlight in my face.”

“I’m trying to ask them why they are bothering me, and he said he saw me walking in here,” Shirley said. “They are asking me for my ID and I’m not doing anything … I don’t know if it’s because I’m African American.”

Rezvani added: “Imagine how terrifying it is to have to call the police on the police and then to be met with no help. It’s the definition of helplessness.”

Shirley eventually went to his door and showed his identification after two more officers later reported to the scene. The claim, however, alleges that despite his office address being listed on his identification, he had to show it to the officers several times before they left.

“Despite the fact that [Shirley’s] state-issued identification lists the address of the location of incident, [Shirley] was forced to provide his identification to [the police officers] multiple times before they would agree to leave,” it said.

His lawyer also added Shirley, who usually closed late, initially refused to cooperate with the officers because he was afraid. “It’s midnight, he’s black, they are shining flashlights inside — that’s how you set up all kinds of bad things happening, Rezvani told The Post. “To casually walk out, it’s not possible in that scenario.”

Rezvani added: “What happened to him is common and it shouldn’t be. The idea that this could happen to a man going to his office because of his skin color is outrageous.”

Responding to the notice of claim, a spokesman for the NYPD said “we will review the lawsuit if and when it is filed.”