This is the tense moment an armed Queen’s Guard raised his rifle at a ranting would-be intruder outside Buckingham Palace.
The man had been shouting at royal protection officers for five minutes
at the royal residence’s north centre gate when the armed soldier
intervened.
Witnesses told how the he strode 50 yards from his post to join the
confrontation with the intruder, who has since claimed he was expecting a
‘private audience’ with the Queen.
The man, who has identified himself as Tosin Odunaiya, a 23-year-old
Nigerian who came to Britain illegally, said he ‘presumed’ that the
Royal Family would welcome him into the palace.
But he was stopped at the gate before the guardsman’s dramatic intervention, which caused his temper to flare.
Speaking to The Sun, he said: ‘I wanted to speak with the Queen and
presumed the Royal Family would have welcomed me as their lost son.
Odunaiya, who claims the soldier, a member of the Coldstream Guards,
‘didn’t scare me’ said: ‘I was shouting louder and louder when the Guard
came over and started shaking his gun at me.’
Passers-by reported how the would-be intruder said ‘Oh you’re a big boy
now’ to the soldier – thought to be Scottish – who in turn replied ‘Yes I
am a big boy’ before pushing him.
Royal protection officers then ushered the man away, though he was not arrested.
He told the newspaper that the incident on Friday was his fifth attempt
to get into the palace, and that before he has been so sure of being
allowed in that he brought a toothbrush with him.
Odunaiya claims that his past visits were made to lobby the Queen over
Syria, but that now he just wants help going home to Nigeria – as he
hates it in Britain.
Raising a rifle is considered a ‘final warning’, after which the guardsmen is allowed to detain the person in question.
It is unusual for soldiers to leave their post unless a Royal is under
threat, as the Metropolitan Police are responsible for most issues
related to guarding the palace.
But it is believed that the soldier who intervened has the backing of his superiors.
The Metropolitan police said that they gave the man ‘words of advice’ and there was no Arrest.
A spokesman said: ‘An incident occurred at the north centre gate of
Buckingham Palace at approximately 17.50hrs on Friday 4th April. Dailymailuk posted by Emanto Ngaloru April 7, 2014.
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