Wafric News – May 7, 2025

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has released popular social media activist Martins Otse, generally known as VeryDarkMan, after detaining him for five days.

The news of his release was made public on Wednesday through a post by human rights activist and former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore via his X (formerly Twitter) account.

“Thanks to unrelenting efforts of all, @thatverydarkman has been released from unjust detention at the @officialEFCC. He is with his ebullient lawyer, @adeyanjudeji,” Sowore wrote.

The release follows days of public outcry and legal back-and-forth. VeryDarkMan’s legal representative, Deji Adeyanju, had earlier raised concerns about the EFCC’s lack of formal documentation despite claims that the activist had been granted administrative bail. He described the situation as "social media bail" due to the absence of official bail papers.

“Bail granted VDM, social media bail, as we are yet to receive any bail document from the commission. We have made several repeated demands in this regard since yesterday,” Adeyanju said.

The EFCC, through its spokesperson Dele Oyewale, confirmed that Otse had indeed been granted bail but stated he remained in custody pending the fulfillment of certain bail conditions.

The commission revealed that Otse was invited for questioning following multiple petitions accusing him of financial misconduct. Authorities claim he was arrested only after allegedly failing to respond to repeated summons sent to his known addresses and contact channels.

VeryDarkMan’s detention had sparked significant reactions across social media, with supporters calling for transparency and due process in his case.


By WafricNews Desk.