Video: ‘We’re outside,’ VeryDarkMan declares after EFCC release
Abdullateef Fowewe
Popular social media activist Martins Innocent Otse, known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), has been released from the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission after five days, sparking widespread relief and celebration among his supporters.
Video: ‘We’re outside,’ VeryDarkMan declares after EFCC release
Upon his release on Wednesday evening, VDM declared, “We’re outside,” signaling his regained freedom and resilience.
Dailyeconomy reported that VDM was arrested on May 2, 2025, at a GTBank branch in Abuja, where he was addressing unauthorised deductions from his mother’s account.
His lawyers reported that EFCC operatives detained him after briefly holding him at the bank’s exit door, though CCTV footage later showed the arrest took place in the car park.
The arrest ignited protests in Abuja and a social media storm, with hashtags like #FreeVeryDarkMan and #JusticeForVDM trending nationwide.
Demonstrators chanted slogans such as “Activism is not a crime,” condemning what they viewed as an attempt to silence a vocal government critic.
GTBank faced accusations of complicity, which the bank denied.
However, EFCC justified the arrest by citing multiple petitions alleging financial crimes against VDM and noted that he had ignored several invitations to appear before the commission.
The agency emphasised its legal right to detain suspects under investigation and confirmed that an appropriate remand order had been obtained.
VDM was granted administrative bail and released after fulfilling bail conditions.
VDM’s legal counsel, Deji Adeyanju, expressed confusion over the arrest, stating, “We still cannot understand why he was arrested. EFCC said there is no petition against him after our repeated demand.”
He described the bail as “social media bail” and condemned the EFCC’s handling of the case as arbitrary.
