A Nigerian police officer, Newton Isokpehi, has publicly apologised after a video of him threatening to shoot anyone who filmed him while on duty went viral and caused widespread public outrage.
In a video he posted online on Thursday, Isokpehi addressed the backlash and begged for forgiveness from both the general public and rights activist Harrison Gwamnishu, who had originally shared the clip that sparked the controversy.
The officer explained that his words came from a place of frustration rather than genuine intent, saying he was misunderstood and that citizens are actually permitted to record police officers. However, he expressed displeasure at what he felt was excessive or inappropriate filming of officers while on duty.
Isokpehi, who hails from Edo State and grew up in a police barracks in Kaduna, spoke passionately about his dedication to the job, highlighting 12 years of service with the Mobile Police.
To underscore the dangers he has faced, he showed multiple gunshot wounds on his body, recounting a particularly deadly operation in which he was one of only two survivors out of seventeen officers.
He was emphatic that he had no intention of harming civilians, describing his earlier threat as words spoken in anger rather than a reflection of his true character or intentions.
He made a direct and emotional plea to Gwamnishu and all Nigerians to forgive him, acknowledging that the situation had blown up far beyond what he anticipated.
The apology came less than a day after the original video, in which he threatened to “clear everybody down,” spread rapidly across social media and online platforms, drawing widespread condemnation and calls for disciplinary measures against him.
At the time of reporting, the Nigeria Police Force had not yet released any official response to the incident.