By Kingston Magare 5/5/2025
A large number of protesters took to the streets in Abuja protesting the sudden arrest of social activist Martins Otse a.k.a VeryDarkMan by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission last week at the premises of a Guaranty Trust Bank branch.
The protesters gathered at the headquarters of GTBank in Abuja chanting songs and demanding the immidiete release of VeryDarkMan. Some of them carried placards, which read: “#FreeVDM,” “Activism is not a sin,” “VDM is the masses’ liberator,” and “VDM has committed no offence.” Some others were seen riding in a moving vehicle chanting slogans.
VDM had gone to the GTBank in Abuja to lay a complain about unapproved withdrawal from his mother’s account and after the matter was resolved, he was trapped in the GTBank branch for EFCC agents to come and violently arrest him.
GTBank, however, denied any involvement in the arrest, releasing CCTV footage to refute the allegations. In a public statement, the bank clarified that VeryDarkMan was not arrested on its premises, and called for a transparent investigation into the matter.
Meanwhile the EFCC said Monday VDM was arrested based on various petitions against him and he would soon be charged to Court.
“We arrested him to respond to a series of allegations raised against him by some petitioners.
“We will release him once he meets the bail conditions, and we will take the case to court as soon as possible. We are law-abiding,” EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale told BBC Pigin.
