The Delta State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Bright Edafe, has explained the decision to conceal the face of an officer arrested over the fatal shooting of a suspect in Effurun.

In a Tuesday statement, Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), DCP Anthony Placid identified the affected officer as ASP Usman Nuhu.

He said preliminary reports indicated that operatives attached to the Effurun Area Command responded to credible information from Benin Motor Park along the Warri–Sapele Expressway regarding a suspect, Mene Ogidi, apprehended by members of a transport union while attempting to waybill a parcel containing a Beretta pistol with four rounds of ammunition.

He added that while efforts were being made to take the suspect into lawful custody, the team leader, Usman, discharged his firearm in clear violation of extant regulations, resulting in the death of the suspect.

The Delta police command later released a photo of Nuhu with his face concealed, drawing ire from social media users.

In a chat with Channels TV, the command’s spokesman defended the decision, citing constitutional rights and internal procedures.

Edafe maintained that the embattled officer remains entitled to the same legal protections as any Nigerian, including the right not to be publicly exposed before formal charges are filed.

He said, “One of the conditions to be a police officer is that you must be a Nigerian and the Nigerian constitution has stated it clearly that media parade is not the way forward.

“You’ll observe that even when we’re parading kidnappers, armed robbers, or rape suspects, we blur or cover their faces or take them from behind.

“By this man being a police officer who is now a suspect, that does not take away that right to be Nigerian away from him.

“We don’t want it to look like we decided to display his face now that a policeman is involved, because it is the same rule that protects every Nigerian.” (Daily Sun)