Social media activist Martins Otse, widely known as VeryDarkMan, has been released from the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) after spending five days in detention.
His release was confirmed on Wednesday by former presidential candidate and human rights advocate Omoyele Sowore, who posted on X (formerly Twitter):
“Thanks to unrelenting efforts of all @thatverydarkman has been released from unjust detention at the @officialEFCC. He is with his ebullient lawyer, @adeyanjudeji,” Sowore tweeted.
Earlier, Otse’s lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, expressed frustration with the EFCC over delays in finalizing the bail process, accusing the agency of announcing bail publicly without issuing formal documentation.
“Bail granted VDM, social media bail, as we are yet to receive any bail document from the commission. We have made several repeated demands in this regard since yesterday, when we were informed about the decision to grant bail,” Adeyanju said.
The EFCC had, on Tuesday, confirmed Otse’s administrative bail through a statement by its Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale. However, it said his continued detention was due to the pending fulfilment of bail conditions.
According to the agency, VeryDarkMan was invited over multiple petitions involving allegations of serious financial crimes. The commission said he was arrested only after ignoring repeated summons sent to his known addresses and communication channels.
