VDM Apologises to Security Agencies Over Unknown Gunmen Remark

Controversial social media personality Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, has apologised to Nigeria’s security agencies over his “unknown gunmen” remarks at the Nigerian Bar Association conference in Port Harcourt.

VDM admitted that his comments unfairly portrayed personnel across the military, police, customs and immigration services as part of the problem.

The development was contained in a video released by VDM after his appearance at the conference, where he had suggested that some security personnel could be behind activities blamed on unknown gunmen.

He had also alleged that some officers leak information to criminals and assist criminal operations.

However, in his response, VDM said he should not have grouped all security personnel together while making the allegations.

He particularly acknowledged the work of soldiers confronting Boko Haram insurgents and other security threats across the country.

“I was wrong to generalise,” VDM said while apologising to the Chief of Defence Staff and serving members of the military.

He also extended the apology to personnel of the Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Customs Service and Nigeria Immigration Service, as well as families of security officers who had died in the line of duty.

Despite the apology, VDM maintained his position that some individuals within the security agencies could engage in misconduct.

He stressed that his apology concerned his broad characterisation of the agencies and did not amount to withdrawing allegations against specific personnel.

The development has therefore shifted attention to the evidence supporting his claims about alleged collusion between some security personnel and criminals.

VDM had alleged, among other things, that some officers at checkpoints pass information about wealthy travellers to kidnappers.

The police had previously challenged him to provide evidence to support that allegation.

His latest position leaves the broader claims unresolved, as specific allegations against individual security personnel would require evidence and independent verification.

For now, VDM has acknowledged that he went too far in presenting a collective picture of Nigeria’s security agencies, while retaining his concerns about what he described as “bad eggs” within the system.