From hawking his private videos to survive, to shutting down skincare brands and sparking a national #FreeVDM movement — the full, unfiltered story of Martins Vincent Otse, the man who made holding power accountable both his calling and his curse.
Before the viral livestreams, the courtrooms, the masked arrests and the nationwide hashtags, there was a young man from Edo State doing menial jobs in Lagos just to eat. Martins Vincent Otse — known across Nigeria and beyond simply as VeryDarkMan, or VDM — was born on April 8, 1994, in Kaduna, where his family was living at the time, though his roots are firmly in Agenebode, Edo State. He spent much of his childhood moving across Nigerian cities before settling in Abuja and eventually Lagos. He has openly described his early adult years as ones of genuine financial hardship, stating in a video addressing online allegations that during his lowest point he engaged in transactional relationships for money — including, by his own admission, with men — a revelation he attributed to economic desperation and the social environment he found himself in. He never ran from the disclosure. Instead, he used it as context for who he became.
He eventually pursued higher education, with various accounts placing him at the University of Lagos studying Business Administration, though some sources indicate Lafia Polytechnic for part of his studies. After graduating, he relocated to Abuja. He briefly ventured into the fashion world as a fitness model and took minor acting roles in popular Nigerian television series including The Johnsons and Hush. None of it stuck. What stuck was his anger — and his phone camera.
The Beginning: 2022 and the Rise of the Internet Police
VeryDarkMan's social media activism career formally began in 2022. He has described making his first real money that year by selling private videos online — enough to acquire a car, though not to sustain wealth. But his philosophy was becoming clear: he told followers that he had no love for money and had turned down millions of naira offered by well-meaning supporters, because money, in his words, was a distraction from justice.
His breakthrough moment came when he championed a consumer rights case against Jenny's Glow, a Nigerian skincare brand a dissatisfied customer had complained about. VDM took the complaints public in a series of explosive Instagram videos, accusing the brand of selling harmful and counterfeit products. He put the company under relentless public scrutiny. By September 2023, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control — NAFDAC — sealed one of Jenny's Glow's Abuja branches and halted sales of several products after malpractices were uncovered. It was a defining moment. An internet critic had, through sheer noise and persistence, compelled a federal regulatory agency to act. Nigeria noticed.
— City People Online, December 2024
That victory cemented his brand. He positioned himself not as an entertainer, not as a gossip blogger, and not as a traditional civil society activist. He was something new: an internet policeman, self-appointed and accountable to no institution except, he claimed, the public. He wore that identity literally — which would later cause him serious legal trouble.
The Mohbad Saga: National Spotlight, September 2023
The death of young Afrobeats singer Mohbad (Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba) on September 12, 2023, sent shockwaves through Nigeria. The 27-year-old, formerly signed to Naira Marley's Marlians Records, died under circumstances that immediately sparked widespread suspicion and demands for investigation. Into that national grief stepped VeryDarkMan — and the results were explosive.
VDM threw himself into investigating Mohbad's death with the same relentless energy he had brought to consumer protection. He went live repeatedly, making claims about the circumstances of the death and the people he believed bore responsibility. He called for a DNA test to be conducted on Mohbad's young child, suggesting publicly that the paternity of the baby needed to be established as part of the investigation. The call was met with a wave of criticism from Nigerians who considered it callous and disrespectful toward a grieving widow. But it was also widely shared, and it kept the story alive.
He also levelled accusations at Nollywood actresses Tonto Dikeh and Iyabo Ojo, alleging that they had exploited the Mohbad case for clout — and that Tonto Dikeh had misappropriated crowdfunding donations raised in the name of the Justice for Mohbad movement. These were not quiet insinuations. They were delivered on Instagram, in front of hundreds of thousands of followers.
First Major Arrest: January–May 2024
Nigeria's authorities were paying attention. In January 2024, VeryDarkMan was invited by the Nigeria Police Force over the allegations he had made against Tonto Dikeh and Iyabo Ojo. Then in March 2024, he was arrested over allegations of cyberbullying and cyberstalking. He pleaded not guilty and was released after roughly two weeks in custody.
âš–Court Record: May 2024 Charges
VeryDarkMan was arraigned at the Federal High Court in Abuja in May 2024 on five counts of cyberstalking under the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015. The charges included allegations that he knowingly posted videos on his Instagram handle containing false information — specifically that Tonto Dikeh had criminally converted Mohbad crowdfunding proceeds, and that the actress was the person behind the anonymous gossip blog "Gistlover." He also faced cyberstalking charges relating to the Nigeria Police Force. He pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Iyabo Ojo, for her part, hit back with characteristic force. She publicly blasted VDM, calling him disrespectful and accusing him of lacking basic home training. Their online feud became one of the defining celebrity dramas of 2023–2024. VDM had also earlier accused Ojo of advertising counterfeit perfume on her social media channels, and of setting a poor example for young people through her participation in the viral 12345678 challenge. She disputed the claims and their war of words raged for months.
The Bobrisky Affair: Bribery Claims, Leaked Audio, and the Falana Lawsuit
Perhaps no controversy in VDM's career was more combustible than the one that erupted around crossdresser Bobrisky (Okuneye Idris Olanrewaju) in mid-2024. Bobrisky had served a six-month prison sentence for financial misconduct. After his release, VDM began posting allegations about the circumstances of his imprisonment, claiming in a viral audio clip that Bobrisky had alleged that EFCC officers extorted ₦15 million from him in exchange for dropping money-laundering charges. In the same leaked voice recording, Bobrisky allegedly claimed that rapper Falz had contacted him while in prison, offering to facilitate a presidential pardon through his father — celebrated human rights lawyer Femi Falana — for a payment of ₦10 million.
Both Femi Falana and Falz categorically denied the allegations. Falana, appearing on Channels TV, stated he had never met or spoken to Bobrisky and had secured pardons for many Nigerians at no charge throughout his career. Bobrisky also denied the audio was authentic, claiming it had been fabricated using AI. The Falana family then issued a legal ultimatum to VDM through their chambers — Falana & Falana — on September 26, 2024, demanding an immediate retraction and apology for the defamatory allegations made on September 25. VDM refused.
The Lagos State High Court subsequently issued an order directing VDM to delete the defamatory videos and comments he had made about the Falanas. He again refused to comply. The Falana family filed a ₦1 billion defamation suit. The case was adjourned to January 2025.
— VeryDarkMan, before the House of Representatives Committee, September 2024
The turnaround came dramatically. VDM appeared before the House of Representatives Joint Committee on Financial Crimes and Reformatory Institutions, where he publicly apologised to Femi Falana, stating he found it hard to believe the senior lawyer had been involved in any wrongdoing. The apology was noted but the lawsuit was not withdrawn.
Separately, Bobrisky's counter-attacks were personal: he mocked VDM's earlier admission of having sold intimate videos for money, calling him a hypocrite. Their feud, stretching across months of 2024, became one of the year's most discussed online dramas in Nigeria.
Police Uniform Controversy: October 2024
In October 2024, VDM posted a video in which he appeared wearing a full Nigeria Police Force uniform complete with accoutrements, describing himself as "social media police." The Nigeria Police Force was not amused. The Force publicly condemned the act, announcing a full investigation to determine the source of the uniform and whether criminal offences had been committed under Section 251 of the Criminal Code Law and Section 133 of the Penal Code Law. His supporters found it on-brand; his critics said he had gone too far. Depending on one's view of VDM, it was either satirical performance art or reckless provocation.
The Mercy Chinwo Warrant: March 2025
By early 2025, the legal walls were closing in. Gospel singer Mercy Chinwo filed a defamation suit against VDM following posts he had made about her. On March 13, 2025, Chief Magistrate Emmanuel Iyanna of the Chief Magistrate Court in Wuse Zone 6, Abuja, issued a bench warrant for VDM's arrest after he failed to appear before the court following a summons. The magistrate directed the Nigeria Police Force and other law enforcement agencies to bring him in to answer to the criminal allegations. By April 2025, a separate court order directed him to delete the content concerning Chinwo and issue a public apology.
The GTBank Arrest and #FreeVDM: May 2025
The most dramatic chapter of VDM's story so far came on May 2, 2025. He had gone to a Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) branch in Abuja to lodge a formal complaint — his mother's account had allegedly been subjected to fraudulent withdrawals and he wanted answers from the bank. When he walked out, men in masks were waiting for him. He was taken into custody.
The EFCC confirmed the arrest, citing allegations of cyberstalking and harassment across multiple petitions filed against him, with the agency claiming his social media conduct may have contravened the Cybercrimes Act of 2015. Controversy immediately erupted over the identity and legal authority of the masked men who made the arrest — questions arose as to whether they were EFCC operatives, DSS agents, or a combination of both. His lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, demanded immediate clarification and challenged the legality of the detention.
The arrest triggered something neither the EFCC nor whoever ordered the operation appeared to have anticipated: a national outcry. The hashtag #FreeVDM exploded across X and Instagram within hours. Former presidential candidate and Labour Party figurehead Peter Obi publicly condemned the arrest as an attack on free speech. Civil society voices demanded his release. Even Femi Falana — still in the middle of a ₦1 billion lawsuit against the man — made several calls to the EFCC challenging the legality of the detention. VDM was released on administrative bail on May 7, 2025, five days after his arrest.
Broader Activism: Beyond Celebrity Drama
It would be a mistake to reduce VDM's record to his feuds and arrests. Alongside the controversies, he has carried out consistent advocacy work that resonates with ordinary Nigerians who feel unprotected by the state. He lent his voice and platform to student protests in Abuja over unpaid lecturers' salaries, arguing that the collapse of the education system was destroying the futures of Nigerian youth. He challenged so-called "miracle pastors" repeatedly — most notably when music director TG Omori revealed he was battling kidney failure in 2024, with VDM publicly daring faith healers to prove their powers by curing Omori. He targeted Prophet Jeremiah Fufeyin for allegedly selling miracle water and other items, and urged the EFCC to investigate.
He also gave NIDCOM Chairperson Abike Dabiri-Erewa a one-week public ultimatum to rescue Nigerian children allegedly trafficked to Ivory Coast — a move that generated both support and pushback from those who argued he was being "misinformed and ignorant" about the agency's work. His relationship with Davido, once cordial enough to include public appearances together, reportedly soured — VDM was notably absent from Davido's 2025 wedding in Miami, with observers linking the estrangement to VDM's association with Burna Boy, Davido's long-standing rival.
Through it all, he has maintained that money is not his motivation. He has turned down donations. He does not run promotions or take advertising. "His goal in life," Legit.ng reported, citing his own words, "is not to become wealthy but to render help to people he can."
The Verdict of Nigerian Public Opinion
VeryDarkMan divides Nigeria cleanly. His supporters see a man the system cannot buy and cannot permanently silence — someone willing to absorb arrests, lawsuits, and public humiliation to hold the powerful accountable. For them, each arrest only adds credibility: if he were wrong or irrelevant, they ask, why would anyone bother locking him up? His critics see someone who operates without editors, fact-checkers, or accountability, who has made serious and sometimes false allegations against private citizens and public figures alike, who has used his platform to harass and intimidate, and whose bravado frequently crosses the line from activism into recklessness.
Both things are true, and the tension between them is precisely what makes him the most discussed figure in Nigerian online culture. He is 31 years old. His net worth is estimated at between ₦50 million and ₦200 million, built not from brand deals or sponsorships but from whatever income streams a man with that platform generates. His legal battles are ongoing. His platform continues to grow.
Whether Nigeria's establishment will eventually find a way to silence him, or whether he will, as he has every time before, walk out of custody and straight back online — that, for now, remains the unfinished story.