Mama Gifted Hands Owner Arrested For Kidnapping And Assault

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The owner of an African hair braiding shop has been arrested along with two of her employees, for kidnapping and assault, and are being held without bail.

Earlier this month, a video went viral from a Facebook user Jo Odom, she showed her experience and how she was treated in the shop. The first few clips were her showing how the shop owner served her drinks, and showed how nice the shop was, but later clips of the same visit turned much darker.

The video showed the shop owner grabbing the client by her hair and trying to rip it all out. The customer screaming "Let me go." According to the customer and messages she presented via text, Mama Gifted Hand agreed to do her braids for $200. Once the job was done, the customer kindly paid her, but for some reason, the shop owner demanded more money. She demanded that the customer pay her $50 more, claiming she used human hair rather than synthetic. The customer stated that she never advised her of that and that she was not paying. The police were called and took the customer’s side. Once word spread throughout social media, people were calling for the shop owner's arrest, and rightfully so.

The Birmingham Police Department released this statement on Facebook 

🚨ARRESTS🚨 

BPD’s Crime Reduction Team Makes Arrests in

Parkway East Kidnapping and Assault Investigation

The Birmingham Police Department reports that BPD’s Crime Reduction Team has arrested the owner of a business (Mama Gifted Hands) and two employees. The suspects are identified as 32-year-old Aissatou Camara, 30-year-old Julia Ondo, and 45-year-old Gwadys Audrey Nzinga Koumba, all of Birmingham, Alabama.

The suspects have been charged with Kidnapping 1st Degree and Assault 3rd Degree in connection with an incident that occurred on Saturday, November 15, 2025, at a business located in the 9400 Block of Parkway East, Birmingham, Alabama.

All suspects were taken into custody without incident on Friday, November 21, 2025.

The suspects have been transported to the Jefferson County Jail, where they will be held

without bond. 

Some commenters said this:

  • “She needs that whole business shut down and thrown straight in jail.”

  • “Where is the arrest? This is assault.”

  • “I hope she gets sued into the dirt.”

  • “Let that have been MY mama — she would’ve been spitting out teeth.”

  • “STOP patronizing them, they don’t like us.”

  • “Deportation is a beautiful thing.”

  • “Call ICE.”

  • “That owner would've worn the beating of her life.”

  • “Immigrants come here and treat Black Americans like trash.”

  • “This is 3rd world behavior.”

  • “They don’t f** with us.”*

  • “Why didn’t she say something BEFORE she started the hair?”

  • “Forget the hair — I’m shutting that whole shop down.”

  • “Boycott every one of them shops.”

  • “That price-switching scam is common — they do it ALL THE TIME.”

  • “If that was my moma, that shop wouldn’t exist anymore.”

  • “Scamming-ass braiders — this why folks stop going to them.”

  • “ICE where y’all at?”

  • “She better pray she gets locked up before somebody’s family comes through.”


Later on, a TikTok user recorded herself calling the braiding shop, and to our surprise, the shop owner had changed her voicemail, turning it into a very, very foul message aimed toward Black Americans. She stated “I do not like Americans,” while saying many hateful things about Americans and then said she does not need Americans’ money.

So, as of today, all three people that held the customer against her will have been charged.

But let’s take a deeper look into what has been seen as a pattern when it comes to African braiding shops. Months ago, Black Americans across social media called for a boycott of all African businesses. Black Americans all across social media shared their horrible experiences when being served by not only Africans, but all Black immigrants. Based off the video and her voicemail greeting, you can get an understanding of how bad the service can get. Not one professional establishment in their right mind would leave such a message on their voicemail greeting, but this shop did.

Many users stated that the customer should have stuck to the boycott and this would not have happened, while others expressed their frustrations and the physical actions they would have taken.

This is not the first time an African hair braiding shop has attacked a customer; there have been several, and several documented mistreatments of their customers. Many are saying this is 3rd world behavior, because on social media, Africans have left comments stating that customers who want respect must earn it, rather than them earning the customers’ business — and this is why it's being called 3rd world behavior. American culture all across the board competes for customers with competitive customer service, remember “the customer’s always right”?

From reading the comments, many African immigrants have written comments asking why Black Americans care about customer service, saying we should “just get what we came for and go.” But they fail to understand that this is not the culture we are from, and if they want to continue to be patronized and earn money from Black Americans, they will need to adopt the customer service culture and treat paying customers with respect, rather than telling customers they need to earn their respect.

That's all for this story for now. Stay posted and we will keep you updated.

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