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March 31, 2024
The police initially refused to release him on Sunday, blaming it on Easter break.
The Nigerian police have released the detained social media influencer, Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan.
The police initially refused to release him on Sunday, blaming it on Easter break.
SaharaReporters earlier reported that VeryDarkMan was supposed to regain his freedom on Easter Day but the police claimed there were no personnel available to process his release due to the Easter celebration.
A source privy to the matter told SaharaReporters earlier on Sunday that even though the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Dr Solomon Arase had said the lawyers representing the social media influencer could go and get him, the Investigating Police Officers initially met on duty said there was no instruction to that effect.
SaharaReporters later learnt that the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Force Criminal of Investigation Department (FCID) in Abuja, Mr Sylvester Abiodun Alabi, said the lawyers could return on Tuesday to get their client.
“I heard that the IPOs the lawyers initially met said they had not received any instruction to release VeryDarkMan but later when they were able to reach DIG Alabi, he said there was no one available to process the release because of the Easter break.
“So he asked them to come back for VeryDarkMan on Tuesday after the Easter break is over,” the source said.
However, after SaharaReporters’ report, the police released the social media influencer.
#RevolutionNow convener on Sunday evening tweeted, “Good news on Easter Sunday! @thatverydarkman is now free! Thanks for all your efforts to ensure oppression will not always win! #RevolutionNow.”
Good news on Easter Sunday! @thatverydarkman is now free! Thanks for all your efforts to ensure oppression will not always win! #RevolutionNow
— Omoyele Sowore (@YeleSowore) March 31, 2024
SaharaReporters had reported that VeryDarkMan was arrested by the police over claims that they had received a series of petitions against his conduct online.
The socialite had shared a video where he alleged that controversial cross-dresser Bobrisky was sleeping with many Nigerian lawmakers and police chiefs.
He said Bobrisky would have been arrested for openly claiming to be gay and being a trans woman if not that the socialite was sleeping with lawmakers and top police chiefs.
He said, “Make dem start by arresting Bobrisky. The lawmakers wey put this law, make dem first arrest Bobrisky because we watched Bobrisky from being a man, e turn woman for our eye like this. E do breast, e do yansh, e dey wear wig, e dey go party, e dey do everything, nobody arrest am. (They should start by arresting Bobrisky. The lawmakers who made the law should first arrest Bobrisky because we watched Bobrisky, a man, turned to a woman. He did surgeries to turn himself into a woman and no one has arrested him).”
“And you know why nobody arrest am? Because the lawmakers, plenty of them dey doke am. I dare them to arrest Bobrisky for Nigeria. Shey dem say na 14 years? I dare anybody to arrest am, I dare anybody because Bobrisky dey come out talk say e carry man, man carry am, na man dey spend for him, I dare Nigerian government to arrest Bobrisky if e no go cast! We dey country wey be say dem say na 14 years but Bobrisky dey fly (Do you know why no one has arrested him? It is because the lawmakers sleep with him. There is a law in this country that says people who engage in same-sex relationships will be jailed for 14 years but Bobrisky is a free man).
“The day they arrest Bobrisky na that day una go know how many people dey run this thing for this country. Down to plenty of them for the north, down to plenty of them for the east and down to plenty of them for the wet and the south (Any day they arrest Bobrisky, you will know how many gays and lesbians we have in Nigeria).”
#RevolutionNow convener, Omoyele Sowore last Tuesday lamented that the Nigeria Police Force had decided not to release VeryDarkMan on bail despite meeting the conditions.
Giving an update on the issue via his X handle, the human rights activist explained that VeryDarkMan was being held hostage because the leadership of the police force felt he should be punished for accusing them of homosexuality.
Sowore added that the police force intended to hold him in detention till when he was arraigned in court.
He wrote: “Regarding @thatverydarkman, he's being held hostage by the highest authorities at the @PoliceNG; after meeting stringent administrative bail conditions yesterday afternoon, they met and decided to "teach him a lesson" by holding him in indefinite detention until they charge him to court, possibly after the Easter Holidays. (They're currently shopping for a judge to do their bidding).”
“This is because they claimed he accused them (Police DIGs) of homosexuality. They're taking laws into their own hands,” he added.
SaharaReporters had reported how VeryDarkMan was previously summoned by the police over the alleged cyberbullying of Nollywood actress, Tonto Dikeh.
VeryDarkMan made this known in a viral video in January where he raised concern about his safety as he walked into the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department in Abuja, the nation’s capital.