Social media activist Martin Vincent Otse, widely known as VDM or VeryDarkman, has gained notoriety for his alleged cyberbullying and harsh criticism of celebrities and influencers and was recently reported to have been arrested again on Sunday, 30th June.
This recent arrest comes weeks after his previous release. Since the beginning of the year, he has been in and out of police custody due to conflicts with various Nigerian celebrities.
Speaking on Sunday, activist lawyer Deji Adeyanju said Verydarkman was arrested for allegedly exposing a Nigerian who reportedly duped somebody abroad.
According to Adeyanju, the controversial social media influencer was arrested for alleged defamation. He said: “Our client, @thatverydarkman has just been arrested by the police on the instruction of CP Igwe for exposing someone who allegedly duped a Nigerian abroad. Instead of the police to arrest the person alleged to have duped someone, they arrested VDM on allegation of defamation.”
Meanwhile, in the midst of the recent events, Nigerian music producer, Samklef has also claimed to be responsible for the most recent arrest on 30th June, of controversial critic Verydarkman.
He wrote in a post on his Instagram page: “I’m behind Verydarkman’s arrest. I have a serious death threat case with him. Verydarkman has been arrested! Oya poor envy children make una go protest for una hero. I Samklef, is one of the people behind him being arrested! Don’t play! E needs extra cellcation.”
On the contrary, media personality, Isaac Fayose criticized music producer Samklef for claiming responsibility for VeryDarkman’s arrest, stating, “Samklef is too insignificant to arrest VDM. I filed a petition against him. Interpol is prepared to arrest him.”
The police, however, denied arresting VeryDarkMan. When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer of the FCT Command, SP Josephine Adeh, said Verydarkman was only invited for questioning. She clarified that VDM was questioned over allegations of cyberstalking, cyberbullying, and defamation of character and was released immediately after he made a statement on the allegations leveled against him by an individual.
In March 2024, VeryDarkman faced allegations of cyberbullying, leading to his arrest. He was charged with five counts of cyberstalking. These charges included making false claims against Nollywood actresses Iyabo Ojo and Tonto Dikeh, and accusing senior police officers and lawmakers of misconduct.
The court decided to remand him in police custody instead of prison, with a hearing scheduled for May 29, 2024. During this time, VeryDarkman pleaded not guilty to all charges. He was eventually released after spending two weeks in detention.
