Abuja – Nigerian social critic Martin Otse, widely known as VeryDarkMan, was taken into police custody on Friday. The unexpected VeryDarkMan arrest happened inside a Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) branch in Abuja, where Otse had gone with his mother to address suspicious account deductions.
His legal counsel, Deji Adeyanju, promptly confirmed the arrest via a Facebook post, initially stating, “VDM arrested at GTB; demanding accountability is now officially a crime in Nigeria,” without offering immediate specifics.
Reason for VeryDarkMan Arrest Linked to Complaint
Speaking later to Sahara Reporters, Adeyanju provided more context. “My client, VeryDarkMan, was arrested today in Abuja by the Nigerian police,” he clarified. Adeyanju asserted that the arrest stemmed directly from Otse’s actions: “His only offence was speaking out about suspicious and repeated debits from his mother’s GTBank account for loans she never took.” This places the VeryDarkMan arrest directly in the context of his bank complaint.
Events Leading Up to the Arrest
The detention followed VeryDarkMan’s public complaints about the bank issue just days earlier. On the morning of his arrest, Otse had posted on X (formerly Twitter) about visiting the bank.
“Myself and my mom just arrived at GTBank to get an explanation for the constant debit from her account… in the name of loan repayments that she never took,” he wrote. He noted multiple such debits this year alone and mentioned requesting bank statements to understand the timeline. Otse added, “GTBank staff are cooperating hopefully, we’ll know why they keep doing this,” indicating a seemingly normal interaction before the arrest took place.
Awaiting Official Word
As of this report, official statements explaining the legal grounds for the VeryDarkMan arrest are pending. The Abuja police spokesperson, Josephine Adeh, was unavailable for comment, and a message requesting information went unanswered.
By Abiodun Labi
