Former Vice President and 2023 PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has called for the immediate release of social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as Verydarkman (VDM), who was reportedly arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on May 2.
Confirming the arrest, activist-lawyer Deji Adeyanju wrote on X on Friday, May 2, that Otse and a friend, C Park, were picked up by a team of policemen at a GTBank branch.
Atiku, in a statement on Monday, May 5, posted on X, described the arrest and continued detention of Otse without formal charges as “another blatant abuse of power by the Tinubu administration, which has made political repression a hallmark of its rule.”
He further criticised what he called the government’s disregard for due process, saying Otse’s detention was “a chilling reminder of the growing authoritarianism under this government.”
Atiku stated, “This latest episode is part of a disturbing pattern: the Tinubu regime’s relentless assault on the fundamental freedoms of Nigerians, particularly those who dare to speak truth to power or align with the political opposition.”
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He added, “We must not allow state-sponsored repression to become the defining character of our democracy.”
“Atiku noted that while critics are hounded by security agencies, “political loyalists with credible allegations of corruption walk free, trading sycophancy for immunity.”
The PDP chieftain also labelled the arrest as disgraceful and an “affront to democratic norms that must be fiercely condemned and resisted.”
On Monday, dozens of youths protested in Abuja, marching from the EFCC headquarters to the GTBank branch where Otse was allegedly arrested.
The demonstrators carried placards reading “Release Very Dark Man” and “Seyi Tinubu, Are You Involved?” They described the arrest as illegal and threatened to escalate the matter to the Nigerian Human Rights Commission in Maitama.