By Daniel Abia, Port Harcourt
Social media activist Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), has urged Nigerian security agencies to adopt a more proactive approach to tackling kidnapping and other forms of violent crime across the country.
Otse made the call on Tuesday during the 2026 Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where he spoke on the topic, “Known Gun Men.”
Addressing a panel that included the Inspector-General of Police and other security officials, the activist expressed concern over the persistence of insecurity despite the presence of security checkpoints across major highways.
Otse alleged that security agencies had sufficient knowledge of those behind some criminal activities but were not doing enough to prevent attacks and apprehend perpetrators.
“You people know where these people are. You people know these ‘unknown gunmen’. But nothing is happening,” he said.
He further argued that the term “unknown gunmen” should not be used to obscure the identities of those responsible for criminal activities.
“There are no unknown gunmen anywhere. The military men are the unknown gunmen, the Immigration, the Customs — they are the unknown gunmen. Nobody else,” he said.
Otse questioned the effectiveness of police checkpoints on major highways, citing the Lagos-Abuja and Lokoja routes as examples of areas where kidnappings still occur despite the presence of security personnel.
He alleged that criminal elements could obtain information about travellers and use such details to identify potential victims.
According to him, the movement of vehicles through checkpoints could provide criminals with information about their occupants.
He said insecurity had also affected the judiciary, referring to the reported abduction of a judge travelling from Sokoto who was kidnapped in Kebbi State on July 26 and released about a week later.
“This is not the topic of ‘if I may, my Lord’, because a lot of your lords are being kidnapped,” he said.
Otse said his views on insecurity were informed by his experiences at scenes of violence, describing himself as a “first respondent” in some affected communities.
“I was the first respondent at Yelwata. I was also the first respondent when some women were killed some time ago,” he said.
He also recalled witnessing the aftermath of violent incidents, including what he described as a Sallah Day bombing in Borno State and attacks linked to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.
“I have seen blood and seen people burnt alive,” he said.
On the killings in Yelwata, Otse described the incident as a retaliatory attack following the killing of a Fulani man.
He also criticised the Nigerian media for what he described as inadequate coverage of violent attacks and their aftermath.
“When the killings happened, our media are now lazy and they do not really cover these killings and the results of these unknown gunmen,” he said.
Explaining his participation at the NBA conference, Otse said he was not invited to teach lawyers about the law but to share his experiences concerning insecurity.
“There has been a lot of debate as to why VeryDarkMan is invited. I am not here to teach you the law. I am here to share an experience,” he said.
He maintained that the discussion was broader than courtroom proceedings, arguing that insecurity had increasingly affected judges, lawyers and other professionals across the country.
The post VDM urges security agencies to tackle ‘unknown gunmen’ proactively appeared first on Vanguard News.