Shot While Pleading for His Life: NPF Condemns Effurun Killing, Transfers ASP Nuhu Usman to Force HQ for Prosecution
Summary
The Nigeria Police Force has publicly condemned the extrajudicial killing of 28 years old Mene Ogidi in Effurun, Delta State, on April 26, 2026, and ordered the immediate transfer of the officer responsible ASP Nuhu Usman to Force Headquarters in Abuja to face the Force Disciplinary Committee and criminal prosecution. The incident, which occurred while operatives from the Effurun Area Command were attempting to take Ogidi into lawful custody following a tip-off about an illegally waybilled firearm, triggered nationwide outrage after a graphic video went viral showing the suspect already handcuffed and begging for his life being shot at close range. The Inspector General of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu, has extended condolences to Ogidi’s family and reaffirmed the Force’s zero tolerance stance on extrajudicial conduct.
What began as a routine intelligence-led operation in Effurun, Delta State, ended with a young Nigerian man shot dead while handcuffed, pleading for his life and a nation watching in horror as the footage spread across social media. The Nigeria Police Force’s response has been swift, unambiguous, and notably self-incriminating: this was a killing that should not have happened, the officer responsible has been named, and the machinery of accountability has been set in motion.
The incident, which occurred on Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Effurun, sparked public outrage after a disturbing video went viral showing the suspect already handcuffed and begging for mercy being shot at close range in the head. His body was subsequently lifted and thrown into a police operational vehicle.
The 90 seconds video depicts a scene of extreme violence involving police officers in civilian attire operating beside a vehicle clearly labelled “Nigeria Police Force, Effurun Area Command.” In the footage, a suspect is seen on the ground with his hands and legs tied. In his helpless state, he is seen pleading for his life and offering to cooperate, repeatedly addressing his captors as “officers.” “Officers, abeg,” the man pleaded. “I’ll tell you everything. It was my friend who deceived me.” As the suspect provided information about his friend’s whereabouts, shouting “He’s at Sapele. I’ll take you to him,” one of the armed men discharged his firearm into the man’s leg, before a fatal shot followed.
The circumstances that brought Mene Ogidi, 28, to that moment are not in dispute. Operatives attached to the Effurun Area Command received credible intelligence from members of the public that the suspect had been apprehended by a transport union while allegedly attempting to waybill a parcel containing a Beretta pistol with four rounds of ammunition. Police operatives were promptly deployed to take him into custody. What happened next was not policing it was an execution.
The police officer leading the team, ASP Nuhu Usman, in clear violation of Force Order 237 and the Standard Operating Procedure of the Nigeria Police Force, discharged his firearm, leading to the death of the suspect. Force Order 237 governs the use of force and firearms by police officers, establishing strict protocols that prohibit the discharge of a weapon against a suspect who is already in custody and not presenting an active threat. Ogidi was handcuffed, restrained, and talking. No legal or regulatory framework permits what ASP Usman did.
Delta State Commissioner of Police CP Yemi Oyeniyi condemned the killing in the strongest terms, describing it as an extrajudicial killing, and ordered the immediate arrest of ASP Usman and his transfer to the State Headquarters in Asaba. He has since been moved further to Abuja. The leadership of the Nigeria Police Force directed the immediate transfer of the officer and his team to Force Headquarters, Abuja, where they will face the Force Disciplinary Committee for summary disciplinary measures and prosecution.
The Force’s public statement, signed by DCP Anthony Okon Placid, did not soften its language. It condemned the shooting explicitly, named the officer responsible, confirmed the regulatory violations committed, and stated clearly that both disciplinary and criminal processes would follow. The IGP extended condolences to the family of the deceased and urged the public to remain calm as proceedings take their course.
Human rights activist Harrison Gwamnishu, who had earlier shared the video widely, alleged that ASP Nuhu Usman was a former Rapid Response Squad operative with a history of alleged extrajudicial killings, and that other officers at the scene might be shielded from accountability. The police statement identifies only ASP Usman as the officer who fired the fatal shot, making no reference to other members of the team whose roles in the incident remain unclear.
Analysis
The killing of Mene Ogidi in Effurun is a confrontation with a truth that Nigeria’s security establishment has spent years trying to manage away: that extrajudicial police violence is not an aberration produced by a few rogue officers, but a pattern produced by a system that has historically tolerated, and in some cases rewarded, the use of lethal force against suspects outside any legal framework. The viral video is not a difficult case. There is no ambiguity about what it shows. A man in custody, restrained, providing information to officers, is shot dead at close range. No threat. No resistance. No legal justification. The Nigeria Police Force’s own public statement confirms this it calls the shooting a clear violation of Force Order 237 and the NPF’s Standard Operating Procedures. When an institution publicly characterises one of its own officers’ conduct in those terms, it has acknowledged the gravity of what occurred. The speed of the institutional response the commissioner’s condemnation, the arrest, the transfer to Force HQ, the Force Disciplinary Committee referral, the IGP’s statement reflects both genuine accountability impulse and the reality that the video left no room for a narrative that might otherwise have been constructed. Had the footage not gone viral, it is a legitimate question whether the response would have been as swift or as public. That question matters because Harrison Gwamnishu’s allegation that ASP Usman has a prior history of similar conduct is precisely the kind of claim that institutional accountability processes must take seriously. If a serving officer with alleged prior extrajudicial killings was still operational and in a position of team leadership, the failure is not just his. It is systemic. The Force Disciplinary Committee and the prosecution process that follows must answer not only what ASP Usman did on April 26, but how he came to be in command of that team that day. Mene Ogidi was 28 years old. His family has been offered condolences. They deserve justice and justice in this case means a conviction, not just a disciplinary proceeding. Nigeria has a long history of security force members appearing before internal committees and emerging with outcomes that do not satisfy the families of those killed. The IGP’s assurance that justice will be served must be tested against a legal process that is transparent, prosecuted with full force, and concluded in open court. Anything less will confirm what too many Nigerians already believe: that the uniform changes everything.
Tags