‘I Was Unfair’ – VeryDarkMan Apologises To Soldiers, Police Over Attack

Social media activist, Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, has apologised to members of Nigeria’s security agencies over his controversial description of military, police, customs and immigration personnel as “unknown gunmen.”

Naija News reports that Otse said he reconsidered his remarks after the Nigerian Bar Association’s (NBA) 66th Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and concluded that his comments unfairly portrayed personnel who risk their lives fighting insecurity.

In a video released on Friday, the activist clarified that his criticism was directed at personnel allegedly involved in corruption, sabotage and criminal activities rather than the security services as a whole.

Otse said, “I don’t think I was fair to a lot of people, particularly the speech where I said that the military are the unknown gunmen, the police are the unknown gunmen, you know, the immigration, the customs.

“That speech was not fair, especially to the soldiers that are in the bushes fighting Boko Haram to protect our lands, to protect our lives, and to protect our families.

“I don’t think it’s fair to say they are also the unknown gunmen, to be very honest, because these people have laid down their lives.

“Imagine a soldier fighting in the bush and he watches VDM’s video, and he’s like, ‘Ah, VDM is one of us now, unknown gunman.’ That would discourage him, to be honest.”

The activist consequently directed an apology to the Chief of Defence Staff and asked that it be extended to troops involved in frontline operations.

Otse further stated, “So I will go further to say to the Chief of Defence Staff, Sir, I really want to apologise for that speech, and I don’t want to discourage your boys.

“Please extend my apologies to your boys, to the ones that are in the bush protecting our lands.

“To the families of these heroes that might have also felt offended by this speech, knowing fully well that their brother, their sister, their son, their husband fought and died for this country, I am really, really sorry.”

Despite withdrawing the generalisation, VeryDarkMan maintained his allegation that some personnel within security agencies were involved in misconduct.

He said his NBA speech was intended to draw attention to what he described as “bad eggs” allegedly undermining the efforts of their colleagues.

The activist said, “My speech was not to discourage you.

“My speech was entirely to talk about the bad eggs in our security operative, our security forces, is to put attention on the bad eggs, so that the leaders in these security settings will look inward and to see that sometimes information are being leaked and their own people are sabotaging them.

“But by passing that speech, like I said, it seems like I was generalising and it’s not fair to the fallen soldiers.”

He maintained that corruption existed within the security establishment, alleging that personnel of different ranks were involved.

Otse said, “A lot of corrupt generals, a lot of high-ranking police officers are corrupt, a lot of junior officers are corrupt, a lot of them are there. But there’s still a lot of more good people, a lot of more good people, and I know a lot of them.

“Me and police, we work steady. I give, sometimes I share police information, tell them, ‘Oh, this is what is happening here, please, can you intercept.

“But then again, to the bad eggs, your days are numbered. To all of you in the military that are sabotaging and causing deaths to your officers, your days are numbered.”

The activist had previously alleged that some police personnel at checkpoints provided information about wealthy travellers to kidnappers.

Police authorities challenged him to substantiate the allegation, while Otse responded that he was prepared to present evidence if prosecuted.

Reflecting on his original speech, the activist conceded that he had failed to communicate his intended message properly.

Otse added, “I actually know more than the people I was trying to communicate with, so it was not really communicated properly.

“And to the patriots, to the heroes, to our fallen heroes that have died to protect this country… I am really, really sorry.

“Keep on fighting for our beloved country, God bless all of you. We Nigerians are with you.”