By Ezinwanne Onwuka
Very Dark Man, whose real name is Martins Otse, is one of Nigeria’s boldest and most controversial voices, known for calling out corruption, injustice, and what he calls Nigeria’s “elite hypocrisy.”
But on May 2nd, that voice was silenced. VeryDarkMan (VDM) was arrested in Abuja by masked men, operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), a counterpart agency to the U.S. FBI, on allegations of cyberstalking ordered by a court Magistrate.
Yet, to many Nigerians, this is more than just another arrest. It fits a growing pattern: When citizens speak up, the State pushes back. From the EndSARS protesters to vocal critics such as VDM, there’s an emerging trend: criticism is being met with cuffs.
This marks VDM’s fifth arrest in a year over cyberstalking. His critics argue he goes too far. But his supporters say he is bold enough to say what many won’t. On social media, the hashtag #FreeVDM is trending.
A protest also erupted. The protesters, mostly youths, converged at the junction leading to the EFCC headquarters in the Jabi area of Abuja. They chanted slogans and carried placards with various inscriptions, describing VDM’s arrest and detention as illegal. Since the arrest, authorities have yet to speak officially on the matter.
According to the spokesman of the EFCC, an anti-graft agency, VeryDarkMan was taken into custody following complaints from several petitioners on the allegation of cyberstalking. But, as legal experts have argued, cyberstalking is a controversial law as formulated in the Nigerian penal code, since virtually any government official can invoke it claiming that a factual news story caused the official to be threatened. The statute was used by former Kaduna State Security Commissioner Samuel Aruwan to arrest and prosecuted conflict reporter Luka Binniyat in November 2021.
The arrest comes as questions swirl around the Tinubu administration and its tolerance for dissent. Is Nigeria clamping down on critics or just enforcing the law? A legal practitioner, Ujah Israel Ujah, says this is not law enforcement, but abuse of power.
“The Nigerian people are not deceived. The pattern is clear: use the police to detain, use the EFCC to intimidate, and use the courts to exhaust the victims. It is a system designed not to dispense justice but to suppress resistance,” he told TNTV reporter via a WhatsApp message.
“By confronting the hypocrisy and misconduct of both celebrities and institutions, VDM has pierced the veil of elite impunity, speaking the language of the street in a digital age. His persecution is not merely legal — it is political and symbolic, a desperate attempt by the powers that be to quench a growing fire of accountability,” Ujah added.
For a country whose third stanza of the national anthem is a prayer to God “to build a nation where no man is oppressed,” VDM’s story is a test, not just of the law but of how far Nigeria is willing to go to protect the right to speak freely.
Ezinwanne Onwuka is a conflict reporter for TruthNigeria.
