Protesters stormed the headquarters of Guaranty Trust Bank in Abuja on Monday to demand the release of social media influencer, Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan.
The protesters chanted “#FreeVDM” and displayed placards with inscriptions such as, ‘Activism is not a sin’, ‘VDM is the masses’ liberator’, and ‘VDM has committed no offence’.
Counsel to VeryDarkMan, Deji Adeyanju, had accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of ambushing and arresting his client inside the GTBank premises.
The bank, however, stated that the social media influencer was not picked up on its premises, and urged that further investigations be conducted.
In a CCTV footage released by the bank, VDM was seen leaving the banking hall and heading towards the car park moments before his arrest.
Following public outcry, the anti-graft agency on Monday confirmed the activist’s arrest and said he would soon be arraigned to face charges of cyberstalking.
The EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale, confirmed that VeryDarkMan was arrested following multiple petitions filed against him.
He added that VeryDarkMan would be released as soon as he meets the conditions for bail.
Oyewale said, “We arrested VeryDarkMan to respond to a series of allegations raised against him by some petitioners.
“We will release him when he meets the bail conditions and we will take the case to court as soon as possible; we are law-abiding.”
