Elochukwu Benjamin
Awka
Human rights activist and legal practitioner, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, has defended social media influencer Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), following the Nigeria Police Force’s invitation to him over allegations that some police officers leak travellers’ movement details to kidnappers.
VeryDarkMan made the claim while speaking on a panel at the 2026 Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt, alleging that officers at police checkpoints pass information to criminal gangs involved in kidnappings.
The police subsequently invited the influencer to provide evidence to support the allegations.
The controversy has continued to generate debate within legal and public circles, with supporters arguing that VeryDarkMan raised concerns deserving investigation, while the Nigeria Police Force insists that allegations against its personnel must be substantiated with evidence.
Reacting to the development in posts on his official X platform, Odinkalu said the police response mirrors his own experience over a decade ago when he accused the Force of involvement in extrajudicial killings.
According to him, about 12 and a half years ago, during a conference of judiciary correspondents under then Inspector-General of Police Mohammed Abubakar, he presented what he described as detailed evidence of a longstanding pattern of extrajudicial killings involving the police.
Odinkalu recalled that the police declared him wanted and subjected him to interrogation by a team led by five Commissioners of Police after he honoured the invitation with his lawyers, Maryam Uwais and the late Bamidele Aturu.
He claimed the interrogation ended without any incriminating findings after the police discovered that his sources included four successive Inspectors-General of Police.
“Today, it is the turn of VeryDarkMan because he says the obvious—that some in the police are involved in the abduction industry in Nigeria,” Odinkalu wrote.
“The leadership of the Force know the truth. They can seek to suppress it.”
To support his argument, the former chairman of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission cited the case of the late Deputy Superintendent of Police George Iyamu, who was arrested in the 1980s for allegedly facilitating the notorious Lawrence Anini robbery gang in the former Bendel State.
Odinkalu also questioned what he described as selective outrage over VeryDarkMan’s appearance at the NBA conference, arguing that the focus should instead be on allegations of corruption within the legal profession.
He noted that many people had not challenged assertions that some lawyers bribe judges, some judges accept bribes, and some judgments are delivered by judges who did not write them.
“What I find truly impressive from the responses of people to the whole allegation is that no one appears bothered or bothers to contest these assertions,” he stated, urging Nigerians to “smell the coffee.”
The legal scholar further defended the NBA’s decision to include the influencer as a speaker, describing his participation as “customer feedback” from ordinary Nigerians who rely on lawyers, courts and legal institutions.
“Ordinary citizens who are not lawyers are customers of lawyers, the courts and legal institutions.
“So, why can’t we abide citizens who are affected by this mess? It’s customer feedback and it’s a good thing too,” Odinkalu wrote.
