Social media critic, Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, has released what he described as his first piece of evidence in response to the Nigeria Police Force’s demand that he provide proof of his allegations that some personnel of the force are the ‘unknown gunmen’
Naija News reports that VeryDarkMan posted a video on his Instagram page on Thursday with a short caption: “My evidence number 1.”
The development came only hours after the police challenged him to produce evidence backing his claim that some officers allegedly pass information about travellers to kidnappers and bandits.
The issue dates back to Tuesday, when VDM appeared as a panelist at the 66th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
During a session on insecurity, the activist questioned the effectiveness of the numerous police checkpoints on major highways, particularly along routes such as Lagos-Abuja and the Lokoja axis.
He alleged that some officers at the checkpoints could identify travellers who appeared financially capable and allegedly pass information about them to criminal groups.
VeryDarkMan illustrated his claim by suggesting that a police officer could see a traveller in a particular vehicle and subsequently alert kidnappers that someone who could pay ransom was on the road. He also told the gathering that security agencies know the identities and locations of some of the people behind kidnappings and other violent attacks but have failed to deal with them.
“There are no unknown gunmen anywhere. The military men are the unknown gunmen, the Immigration, the Customs, they are the unknown gunmen. Nobody else,” he had said during the session.
Naija News reports that the Force subsequently rejected the allegations and described them as unsubstantiated.
The Force invited the activist to provide whatever information or evidence he had so that the allegations could be investigated.
Rather than immediately submit the material to the police, VeryDarkMan said he would provide his evidence if he was charged to court.
“On the Nigerian police I SAID WHAT I SAID, you will get your evidence when I am charged to court,” he stated in a response that further escalated the controversy.
He went on to insist that some police officers were involved in aiding kidnappings, describing them as part of the “unknown gunmen” he had spoken about at the NBA conference.
VeryDarkMan’s First Evidence
Against that backdrop, the activist has now released the video he labelled “My evidence number 1.”
The footage shows police officers being paraded, although VeryDarkMan, did not, in the post itself, provide a detailed explanation of how the individuals shown in the video establish his specific allegation about officers allegedly passing information to kidnappers.
The video, therefore, represents the activist’s own presentation of what he considers evidence, while the underlying allegation remains to be established by an investigation or court.
The dispute has already attracted a barrage of reactions on and off social media, particularly because of the setting in which VeryDarkMan made the original allegations.
Recall that earlier at the NBA conference, the activist defended his presence at the event, saying he was invited to share his experiences of insecurity rather than lecture lawyers on the law.
He also referred to his visits to communities affected by attacks and killings, including Yelwata, and spoke about the reported abduction of a judge as evidence that insecurity had reached the legal profession.
The Presidency has since criticized the NBA for giving VeryDarkMan a platform to make what it described as reckless allegations against the police.
