Police Summon VeryDarkMan Over Allegations Against Officers
The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has invited social media critic Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, to provide evidence backing allegations he made against police officers during the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conference in Port Harcourt.
VeryDarkMan appeared as a panelist at the 66th Annual General Conference of the NBA on Tuesday, where he alleged that some police officers operating checkpoints along major highways share information about travellers with kidnappers and bandits.
According to the activist, such alleged actions by police personnel contribute to the kidnapping of travellers for ransom across the country.
However, the NPF has rejected the allegations, describing its personnel deployed to checkpoints and other locations nationwide as officers assigned to prevent crime, detect criminal activities and protect citizens.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Ani Iniedu, challenged VeryDarkMan to provide evidence supporting his claims.
“Indeed, these same police officers routinely confront the very criminal elements alleged to be receiving such information.
“Accordingly, 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.
“Any such information will be treated with urgency and investigated thoroughly.
“We encourage any member of the public with credible evidence of officer misconduct to come forward through these channels rather than through public allegation alone, so that appropriate action can be taken”, he stated.
