The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) finally arraigned popular social media activist and critic, Martins Otse, widely known as VeryDarkMan (VDM).
Speaking to BBC News Pidgin on Monday, EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale revealed that VDM was taken into custody in response to multiple petitions filed against him, primarily bordering on allegations of cyberstalking.
His words: “We arrested him to respond to a series of allegations raised against him by some petitioners.
“We will release him when he meets the bail conditions and we will take the case to court as soon as possible. We are law-abiding.”
When questioned about whether the arrest was linked to Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank), Oyewale clarified that the complaints were lodged by different individuals and were not limited to any one institution.
He added that the EFCC is committed to acting on petitions submitted by members of the public and is duty-bound to provide protection and redress.
VDM was arrested on Friday over what the agency initially termed an undisclosed offence.
Before the arrest, he had publicly disclosed plans to visit a GTBank branch in Abuja to report unauthorized deductions from his mother’s account.
Following his detention, some reports claimed that the activist was manhandled by EFCC operatives, though the agency has not officially responded to those allegations.
Atiku Blows Hot Over Arrest Of VeryDarkMan, Reveals Next Action
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has strongly criticized the arrest and continued detention of social media influencer Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), describing it as “a blatant abuse of power” by the Tinubu administration.
In a statement released today, Atiku decried the influencer’s detention without formal charges as a “flagrant violation of constitutional rights” and a “chilling reminder of growing authoritarianism” in Nigeria.
He accused the Tinubu-led government of turning political repression into a hallmark of its rule, targeting dissenters and critics while allowing political loyalists facing credible corruption allegations to walk free.
“The systematic crackdown on opposition voices by this administration is disgraceful and an affront to democratic norms,” Atiku stated, calling on Nigerians to resist what he described as state-sponsored repression.
