- Safiu Kehinde
Nigerian social media influencer and activist, Martins Vicent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, has tendered a public apology to the Nigerian Army and the personnel of the Nigeria Police Force over his remark at the 2026 General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA.
NPO Reported that VeryDarkMan had at the event held in Port Harcourt, labelled the military and police as the unknown gunmen troubling Nigeria, accusing them of conspiring with terrorists and kidnappers.
This had sparked controversies and mixed reactions as Nigerians divide over the allegation.
While the military representatives present at the event had countered the activist, the police would also summon him and demanded evidence of his allegation against their personnel.
In a twist of event, VeryDarkMan, on Friday, took to his TikTok handle where he apologised over his statement at the NBA conference.
While reiterating that he has evidence to back up his claims against the forces, VDM however admitted that his speech was unfair to the security agencies as a whole.
‘I just woke up and to be honest, I woke up on the other side of my bed. I woke up unhappy I woke up sad and I woke up disappointed with myself.
‘All of these are because of the speech I gave at the NBA conference. I don’t think that was fair. I don’t think I was really fair to a lot of people. particularly in the speech where I said that the military and the police are the unknown gunmen.
‘I know exactly what I was trying to say because I have evidence to back up my claims. But I was unfair to a lot of people with that speech.
‘That speech was not fair especially to the soldiers who are in the bushes fighting Boko Haram to protect our lives and to protect our families. I should know better.'[ He said.
VeryDarkMan acknowledged the existence of good personnel as well as the fallen heroes who died in the line of duty.
‘To be honest, I know a lot of military personnel that are fighting Boko Haram. I don’t think is fair to say they are also the unknown gunmen.
‘They have laid down their lives. And also to the police, yes, the evidence is there- police aiding kidnapping and terrorism in this country.
‘But it is not all of them at the end of the day. There are still a lot of good policemen that have died fighting Boko Haram.
‘There are lots of policemen that have had crossfire with kidnappers and bandits and lost their lives.
‘Policemen and soldiers get killed every day. Customs, Immigrations get killed. So, I wasn’t really fair, and I think looking back at it now, I just feel that speech might have discouraged a lot of them.’ He said.
VDM maintained that his speech was never to discourage the personnel but put attention to the bad eggs among them as he apologised to the security chiefs.
‘My speech was not to discourage you. My speech was entirely to talk about the bad eggs. It is to put attention on the bad eggs so that the leaders in this security settings will look inward and see that sometimes, information are being leaked and their own people are sabotaging them.
‘I will go further to say that to the Chief of Defense Staff, I want to apologise for that speech, and I don’t want to discourage your boys. It was never to discourage your boys.
‘Please extend my apologies to your boys that re in the bush protecting our land.
‘To the CG of Customs, CG of Immigration, and to the Inspector-General of Police, I really want to apologise.’ He said.
The activist further disclosed that his sadness over his speech also stemmed out of the fact that he was supposed to know better, considering his vast exposure and relationship with the force.
‘Why I’m not also happy is because it is actually coming from someone like me who should know more than those out there.
‘Please, our military brothers in the bushes, our fathers that are the Generals, I genuinely and sincerely apologise for that speech. Please don’t be discouraged.
‘We dey behind you and we will always support you. We are part of this because security is for all of us. Security is for everybody.’ He said.
While admitting to the unfair treatment the military and police personnel receive from the public, VeryDarkMan reiterated that there are still many bad eggs withing the system just as there many good personnel.
He charged the personnel not to be discouraged while vowing to ensure that the bad eggs among them get exposed.
‘And to be honest, we the citizens, we are not really doing well for you guys. That is just the truth. Like I said there are lots of bad eggs and lots of corrupt Generals, high ranking police officers, and junior officers.
‘But there are still a lot of more good people.
‘Please don’t be discouraged. But to the bad eggs, your days are numbered because a lot of you have contributed to the death of your colleagues.
‘To those of you that supply guns to these Boko Haram terrorists and show them your location, and leak information, your days are numbered.
‘And to our fallen heroes that have died protecting this country, to their families, I am really sorry.’ He said.