ABUJA, Nigeria — The Nigeria Police Force has invited social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, to provide evidence supporting his allegation that some police officers at highway checkpoints pass information about travelers to kidnappers and bandits, an accusation the force says is serious but so far unsubstantiated.
Otse made the allegation Tuesday during a panel discussion at the Nigerian Bar Association’s Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. He alleged that some officers identify wealthy travelers at checkpoints and relay information about their identities and movements to criminal gangs, potentially facilitating abductions for ransom. He also accused other security agencies of benefiting from Nigeria’s continuing insecurity, though he did not publicly present evidence for those claims during the conference.
Force Public Relations Officer CSP Ani Iniedu said Thursday that allegations of such gravity require evidence and warned against treating misconduct by individual officers as representative of the entire police institution. The force said officers at checkpoints are deployed to prevent crime and noted that police personnel themselves have been attacked and killed by kidnappers, terrorists and other armed groups. “But an entire institution should not be condemned” without evidence, the police said, adding that credible information about compromised officers would be investigated.
Otse responded by saying he was prepared to face the authorities but would not hand his evidence directly to police investigators. In a video posted on Instagram, he said he preferred to present the material in court if prosecutors brought a case against him. “I’m not going to be giving the police my evidence,” he said. Otse maintained his allegations but also acknowledged poor working conditions within the police and called for better welfare for officers.
The dispute comes at a particularly sensitive moment for Nigeria, where kidnapping for ransom has become one of the country’s most serious security challenges. A recent report by Lagos-based SBM Intelligence estimated that 7,825 people were kidnapped between July 2025 and June 2026, a 66% increase from the previous year, while kidnappers collected an estimated S5.8 million in ransom payments. The figures are based on reported cases and are likely conservative because many ransom payments are never disclosed.
The threat has been most severe in northwestern and north-central Nigeria, where heavily armed groups commonly referred to as bandits raid villages, attack highways and abduct residents for ransom. Recent mass abductions in Niger State have again placed President Bola Tinubu’s government under pressure to improve security and rescue captives. Nigeria’s parliament also advanced a constitutional proposal in June that would allow the country’s 36 states to establish their own police forces, a major departure from the highly centralized policing system controlled from Abuja.
Public mistrust of policing has a longer history in Nigeria. In 2020, nationwide #EndSARS protests demanded an end to police brutality and the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad. The protests became one of Nigeria’s largest youth-led movements in decades and intensified demands for greater police accountability, transparency and reform. Although SARS was subsequently dissolved, concerns about police misconduct have continued to surface.
Otse’s appearance at the lawyers’ conference itself generated debate. Senior lawyer Femi Falana questioned the Nigerian Bar Association’s decision to invite the social media personality to participate in a panel on insecurity, arguing that discussions of national security should involve people with relevant professional expertise. Otse, however, told conference delegates he was not there to teach lawyers but to share experiences gathered while visiting communities affected by violence and insecurity.
For the police, the controversy presents both an investigative and public-confidence challenge. The force says individual officers found to have collaborated with criminals would face disciplinary action and prosecution, but insists accusations against the wider institution must be supported by credible evidence. For Otse, who has built a large online following by publicly challenging government agencies, companies and prominent individuals, the demand for evidence could move his allegations from social media and conference debate into a more formal legal arena.
