A Nigerian police officer, Newton Isokpehi, has threatened to shoot dead anyone who records him while on duty.
In a video that went viral on social media on Wednesday, Isokpehi made violent threats against members of the public and any superior officer he believed had approved the filming of officers on duty.
Isokpehi made threats in Pidgin English, which our correspondent translated into standard English.
We tracked down his TikTok account, “Newton Isokpehi for Life,” with the username #actor459. He had posted videos of himself in police uniform and personal content.
“Any day I’m on duty as a police officer, carrying my rifle and doing my job, let somebody come and video me. That oga who gave you people the order to video us—he will go and do your burial. He will bury you. The number of you that I kill, he will be the one to bury all of you,” he wrote.
He also dared anyone to approach him with a camera while on duty.
“I have served in the Nigerian Police Force for twenty-six years in this place where we are suffering. We suffer every single day, every time.
“If anyone is bold enough, just bring your camera. Watch me properly, bring your camera, and come anywhere I am. Come and video me. If you don’t do it right, I will clear everyone down, the whole bus, everybody around. I swear to God, if I don’t do it, let me die,” he said.
He further made explicit threats at any officer who had ordered members of the public to film police on duty.
“That oga, that police officer who gave the order for people to video policemen on duty—oya, I will deal with you all harshly. You will see serious wahala; you will see problems. Problem will destroy your generation,” he said.
During the video, Isokpehi revealed what he characterized as bullet wounds on his arm, describing them as proof of the hardships officers face in the absence of proper welfare support.
“You think I was born like this? This is a gunshot wound,” he said, pointing to his arm.
“We are just working. Monkey dey work, baboon dey chop. My whole body is covered with bullet wounds and gunshot scars. Yet I’m still suffering,” he said.
However, he acknowledged that the current Inspector General of Police had begun addressing the backlog of unpaid insurance and death benefits owed to officers and their families.
“Look at families whose fathers died many years ago. Since this IG assumed office, he has started releasing their insurance and benefits,” he said.
He subsequently deleted the video from his page, though the account remained active as of the time of filing this report, with earlier posts of him in uniform still visible.
At the time of filing this report, the Nigeria Police Force had yet to issue a statement on the officer’s threats.
