Police Challenge VeryDarkMan to Prove Alleged Checkpoint Links to Kidnappers
By Pan Afric Reporters
The Nigeria Police Force has challenged social media personality Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), to provide evidence backing his allegation that police officers at highway checkpoints relay information about wealthy travellers to kidnappers to facilitate their abduction.
The Force described the allegation, made by Otse at the recent Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Conference in Port Harcourt, as serious, unsubstantiated and damaging to an institution responsible for protecting millions of Nigerians.
In a statement signed by the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Ani Iniedu, ANIPR, the police said allegations of such magnitude must be supported by credible evidence, insisting that officers deployed to checkpoints are tasked with preventing crime, detecting criminal activity and protecting road users.
The Force said its personnel routinely confront kidnappers, terrorists and other violent criminals, noting that police officers have themselves been ambushed, attacked and killed while police stations, formations and operational assets have also come under attack.
“The Nigeria Police Force hereby invites Mr. Martins Vincent Otse to produce, without delay, the evidence upon which he based these serious allegations, including any evidence that police personnel at checkpoints identify wealthy individuals and subsequently transmit information about them to kidnappers for the purpose of facilitating their abduction,” the statement said.
The police maintained that it would investigate any credible evidence of misconduct and sanction officers found to have compromised their duties.
According to the Force, however, individual cases of misconduct should not be used to condemn the entire institution or the hundreds of thousands of officers who serve under difficult and often dangerous conditions.
It said blanket accusations against police personnel could demoralise officers who routinely operate at checkpoints exposed to criminal elements and undermine public confidence in the security institution.
The Force stressed that where evidence establishes that individual officers have aided or facilitated criminal activities, such personnel would face both internal disciplinary measures and prosecution under the law.
“Where individual officers are found to have compromised their duty, they will face the full weight of internal discipline and the law. But an entire institution should not be condemned on the strength of a public statement made without evidence,” the police said.
The Force also urged members of the public who possess evidence of police misconduct to submit such information through appropriate channels rather than relying solely on public allegations.
It assured Nigerians that credible complaints would be treated with urgency and thoroughly investigated.
The police further called for greater responsibility in the making and dissemination of allegations involving national security institutions, warning that unverified claims could erode public trust and potentially undermine national security.
The Force said legitimate criticism remained important to accountability, but urged Nigerians to distinguish such criticism from allegations that are not supported by evidence.
CSP Iniedu reiterated the Nigeria Police Force’s commitment to transparency and accountability, while stressing that the sacrifices of police personnel and the integrity of the institution should not be casually undermined by unverified claims.
