Human rights lawyer Deji Adeyanju has raised serious concerns over the continued detention of popular social media critic, Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) saying that there is no Petition against him.
In a post shared via his official X account on Monday evening, Adeyanju disclosed that he visited Verydarkman shortly after arriving in the country and was shocked by the revelations made during his time at the EFCC office one of which was that the Commission did not have any Petition against him.
According to Adeyanju, officials of the EFCC failed to produce any formal Petition against VeryDarkMan, despite repeated requests.
“Got into the country this evening and went straight to VDM at EFCC. Just left him. We still cannot understand why he was arrested. EFCC said there’s no Petition against him after our repeated demand,” Adeyanju wrote.
Got into the country this evening and went straight to VDM at EFCC. Just left him. We still cannot understand why he was arrested. EFCC said there’s no petition against him after our repeated demand.
— Comrade Deji Adeyanju (@adeyanjudeji) May 5, 2025
This statement has added fuel to the growing outrage surrounding VDM’s controversial arrest, which has been widely condemned by activists, opposition politicians, and members of the public as an attack on free speech.
VeryDarkMan was picked up by EFCC operatives on Friday, May 2, at a GTBank branch in Abuja, where he had accompanied his mother to resolve alleged unauthorized deductions from her account. His detention has since triggered days of protest and heated debate online.
While the EFCC initially claimed that his arrest was linked to multiple Petitions, Adeyanju’s latest statement appears to contradict those claims, leaving many Nigerians demanding clarity and justice.
As of press time, the EFCC has yet to issue a formal statement addressing the lawyer’s allegations.