Social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, has responded to critics questioning why he was invited to speak at the ongoing Nigerian Bar Association Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Speaking as a panellist on Tuesday during a session on insecurity and the experiences of violence victims, VeryDarkMan told lawyers that insecurity had become a reality even members of the legal profession could no longer ignore.
“This is not a topic of ‘may I, my lord’ because your lords are being kidnapped,” he said, referencing the abduction of judges across the country.
The NBA conference, which opened on August 21 and runs until August 28, has drawn lawyers and other prominent Nigerians to deliberate on issues affecting the country’s legal system and wider society.
VeryDarkMan clarified that his invitation was not meant to instruct lawyers on legal matters but to allow him to share firsthand experiences of insecurity and violence.
“There has been a lot of debate about why I was invited to this NBA conference. I’m not here to teach you people law; I’m here to share experience,” he said, noting that some critics may have misunderstood the session’s focus, titled “Unknown Known Gunmen.”
He argued that insecurity could not be discussed solely through the lens of courtroom procedure when lawyers, judges, and other professionals were themselves becoming victims. As an example, he cited the case of a judge travelling from Sokoto who was abducted in Kebbi on July 26 and held for about a week before being released — evidence, he said, of how deeply insecurity has penetrated the legal profession.
VeryDarkMan also criticised the media for what he called inadequate coverage of violent attacks and their aftermath. “When the killings happened, our media are now lazy and they do not really cover these killings and the results of these unknown gunmen,” he said.
He said his stance on insecurity was shaped by direct exposure to scenes of violence, describing himself as a first responder at Yelwata and at the site of an earlier killing of women. He also recalled witnessing the aftermath of a Sallah Day bombing in Borno, along with incidents involving the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital and a post office.
“I have seen blood and seen people burnt alive,” he said.
On the Yelwata violence specifically, VeryDarkMan alleged that the attack was a retaliatory strike following the killing of a Fulani boy. “In Yelwata, it was Fulani that attacked. It was a retaliation because a Fulani boy was killed and these guys came back to attack,” he said.
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