Social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, has apologised to soldiers, police officers, customs and immigration personnel over his controversial remarks at the Nigerian Bar Association’s 66th Annual General Conference.
Otse, in a video released on Friday, admitted that his description of the military, police, immigration and customs personnel as “unknown gunmen” was unfair to security personnel genuinely risking their lives to protect Nigerians.
The activist had made the remarks while speaking at the NBA conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where he was invited to discuss insecurity and related issues.
However, in his latest video, Otse said he had reflected on his speech and realised that his criticism had been presented in a way that appeared to condemn the security agencies as a whole.
“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,” he said.
“I know exactly what I was trying to say because, I mean, I have evidence to back up my claim, but I wasn’t fair to a lot of people in that speech.”
Otse said his remarks were particularly unfair to soldiers fighting Boko Haram and other insurgents in remote areas of the country.
“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,” he said.
The activist, however, maintained that his original argument was directed at what he described as “bad eggs” within the country’s security agencies whom he accused of corruption, sabotage and leaking sensitive information.
“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,” he said.
Otse acknowledged that the manner in which he delivered the argument made it sound as though he was making a blanket accusation against security personnel.
“But by passing that speech, like I said, it seems like I was generalising and it’s not fair to the fallen soldiers,” he said.
He subsequently apologised to the Chief of Defence Staff and asked that his apology be extended to soldiers serving in conflict zones.
“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,” he said.
Otse also apologised to the police, customs and immigration authorities, as well as families of security personnel who have died in the line of duty.
“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,” he said.
Despite the apology, the activist insisted that corruption and misconduct existed within the security architecture and urged the leadership of the agencies to address alleged internal sabotage.
“Yes, a lot of bad eggs there, like I said, a lot of bad eggs, a lot of them are there.
“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,” he said.
He said he was concerned that his comments could demoralise soldiers fighting in the bush who might come across the video.
“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,” he said.
Otse further disclosed that he had maintained interactions with some police officers and had, on occasions, shared security-related information with 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,’” he said.
While appealing to genuine security personnel not to be discouraged, Otse issued a fresh warning to officers whom he accused of sabotaging operations and supplying information or arms to terrorists.
“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,” he said.
The apology comes amid controversy surrounding Otse’s appearance at the NBA conference, with Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, among those who criticised his participation and argued that specialised discussions at professional gatherings should be handled by experienced speakers.
Otse subsequently defended his invitation and explained why he was asked to speak at the conference before mocking some of the backlash by appearing in a lawyer’s wig and gown in a video.
His latest statement also follows a separate controversy over his allegation that some police officers manning checkpoints allegedly pass information about wealthy travellers to kidnappers.
The police had challenged him to provide evidence to substantiate the allegation, while Otse dared the authorities to take him to court, saying he would present his evidence.
In Friday’s video, however, he clarified that his criticisms were not aimed at security agencies as institutions or at personnel genuinely working to protect Nigerians.
“I actually know more than the people I was trying to communicate with, so it was not really communicated properly,” he said.
He urged Nigerians to continue supporting security personnel fighting insurgency and other threats across the country.
“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,” he said.
