Popular social media activist, Martins Otse, widely known as VeryDarkMan, has been released from the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) after spending five days in detention.
His release was publicly confirmed on Wednesday by former presidential candidate and human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, via a post on his X (formerly Twitter) handle.
“Thanks to unrelenting efforts of all, @thatverydarkman has been released from unjust detention at the @officialEFCC. He is with his ebullient lawyer, @adeyanjudeji,” Sowore tweeted.
Before the release, VeryDarkMan’s lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, had raised concerns over what he described as a lack of formal procedure in the bail process. He criticized the anti-graft agency for allegedly granting “social media bail.”
“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, when we were informed about the decision to grant bail,” Adeyanju said in frustration.
The EFCC, in a statement issued on Tuesday by its Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, confirmed that Otse had indeed been granted administrative bail. However, the commission clarified that he remained in custody pending the fulfilment of the bail conditions.
According to the EFCC, Otse was invited for questioning following several petitions alleging his involvement in serious financial crimes. The agency said he was arrested only after repeatedly failing to respond to official invitations delivered to his known addresses and communication channels.
More details are expected to emerge as the case develops.
