VeryDarkMan Biography: Martins Vincent Otse's Rise, Activism, Arrests, NGO and Controversies (2026)

VeryDarkMan: Nigeria’s Most Polarizing Online Voice

Few people in Nigeria’s digital space provoke reactions as strong as Martins Vincent Otse, known to millions as VeryDarkMan, or simply VDM. To his supporters, who call themselves “Ratels” after the fearless honey badger, he is a crusader who exposes fraud, confronts powerful people and forces institutions to act. To his critics, he is a reckless provocateur who has spread unverified claims and repeatedly ended up in court.

Both views are part of his story. In about four years, Otse has helped trigger a regulatory crackdown on a skincare brand, released a recording that led to parliamentary and federal investigations, been detained by Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, raised hundreds of millions of naira for his charity, and announced plans to enter politics. He has also been sued repeatedly for defamation, and a federal panel has recommended that he be prosecuted.

This biography sets out what is verifiable about his life and career, and it distinguishes between his claims, allegations made against him, and the actual outcomes where courts or official bodies have ruled.

Early Life and Background

Martins Vincent Otse is widely reported to have been born on April 8, 1994, which would make him 32 as of September 2026. He is originally from Agenebode in Edo State, southern Nigeria. Reports differ on where he was born and raised; published accounts variously name Abuja, Kaduna and Lagos. Much of his adult life and public activity has been based in Abuja.

He has said relatively little about his childhood, describing it mainly as modest. Details about his education and early jobs also vary between sources and have not been clearly confirmed, so they are not included here. Before becoming known for activism, he posted comedic and commentary videos on social media.

Rise to Prominence

Otse’s social media activism began around 2022. His style set him apart: unscripted videos, often recorded while he wore a black singlet, delivered in a mix of Pidgin and English, with blunt, sarcastic commentary. He described himself as an “online police officer” who would hold people accountable when institutions failed to.

The Jenny’s Glow Campaign

His breakthrough came in 2023 with a campaign against Jenny’s Glow, a skincare brand. After a customer complained, Otse publicly questioned the brand’s products and regulatory approvals in a series of videos. He then shared footage showing the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) sealing the brand’s Abuja branch. The outcome earned him praise from many Nigerians, including celebrities such as Davido.

That campaign set the pattern for much of his later work: targeting businesses, public figures and officials, amplifying complaints from ordinary people, and pushing regulators or law enforcement to respond.

The Mohbad Case

In September 2023, the death of singer Mohbad became a national story, and Otse’s commentary made him even more prominent. He drew wide attention, and strong criticism, after publicly calling for a DNA test on the late singer’s son. The episode made him famous nationally but also cemented his reputation as someone willing to cross lines many considered off-limits.

Around the same period, his growing profile was boosted by attention from blogger Tunde Ednut and by Davido, who followed him on Instagram and invited him to Lagos in October 2023. In January 2024, he was nominated for Silverbird’s Most Influential Social Media Influencer of the Year.

Clashes With Public Figures

Otse’s content increasingly involved public disputes with celebrities, clergy and businesspeople. Several led to legal action.

Prophet Jeremiah Omoto Fufeyin. Otse criticized the cleric’s “miracle” soap and other products and questioned NAFDAC’s approval of them. Fufeyin filed a ₦1 billion defamation suit, and a court granted a restraining order barring Otse from posting further content about him while the case was pending.

Iyabo Ojo and others. He had long-running public disputes with actress Iyabo Ojo, beginning with the Mohbad case, as well as with several other entertainment figures. These exchanges were widely covered by entertainment media.

Mercy Chinwo. In February 2025, Otse posted videos about the dispute between gospel singer Mercy Chinwo and her former label boss, Ezekiel Onyedikachukwu (EeZee Tee), alleging that she had diverted funds. Chinwo denied the claims, presented documents including emails and payment receipts, and sued him for ₦1.1 billion. A Chief Magistrate Court in Abuja issued a bench warrant for his arrest in March 2025 after he failed to answer a summons in the related criminal defamation case. The final outcome of the matter has not been widely reported.

The Bobrisky Recording

Otse’s most consequential exposé came in September 2024. He released an audio recording in which cross-dresser Idris Okuneye, known as Bobrisky, allegedly claimed to have paid ₦15 million to officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to drop money-laundering charges. In the recording, Bobrisky also allegedly claimed to have served his six-month sentence for naira abuse in a private apartment rather than in prison. Bobrisky denied the claims.

The recording caused national outrage. The House of Representatives summoned the EFCC chairman, the head of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Bobrisky and Otse. On September 30, 2024, Otse appeared before the joint committee. He said he had received the recording from someone to whom Bobrisky allegedly owed money. That same day, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, set up an independent panel to investigate.

The panel’s preliminary findings in October 2024 did not support the most dramatic claim. It found no evidence that Bobrisky had spent any nights outside a custodial facility during his sentence, but it found that he had received special privileges. Its later report, published in June 2026, described those privileges in detail, including a single cell with a television and a private bathroom, and meetings with visitors in the officer-in-charge’s office. The panel recommended that the Department of State Services investigate whether Bobrisky bribed EFCC or prison officials.

The panel also recommended that Otse be prosecuted for libel, incitement and possible data-privacy violations for spreading unverified claims about government officials. As of this writing, those were recommendations, not charges.

The Falana Lawsuit

The Bobrisky affair produced another major lawsuit. In the same recording, Bobrisky allegedly implicated a senior lawyer and his son. Otse publicly named human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) and his son, rapper Falz, as the people involved. Both strongly denied the claims and sued him for ₦1 billion in damages.

In October 2024, a Lagos High Court ordered Otse to take down the posts pending the outcome of the case. In May 2025, the court dismissed his preliminary objection and ordered him to pay ₦200,000 in costs. The substantive case was continuing according to the most recent public reports.

The Martins Vincent Otse Initiative

In October 2024, Otse launched an NGO, the Martins Vincent Otse Initiative (MVOI), focused on public education, community development and clean water. It raised more than ₦33 million within its first 24 hours. Music executive Don Jazzy then donated ₦100 million, and Burna Boy was reported to have donated ₦150 million.

The “Missing ₦180 Million” Episode

In December 2024, Otse posted a video claiming that hackers had stolen ₦180 million from the NGO’s account and that he was traveling to Jos with an “officer” to track a suspect. The FCT Police Command said it had no record of the complaint. Days later, Otse announced that the story was a deliberate prank, which he described as an experiment to show how quickly Nigerians believe and spread unverified information. The stunt drew heavy criticism, including from people who argued that faking a theft of donated money damaged public trust in his charity.

Transparency and Projects

The NGO publishes records of donations and spending on its website, which Otse presents as a model of transparency for Nigerian charities. Some legal experts have questioned whether publishing donor details could conflict with Nigeria’s data protection rules. According to an update he shared in June 2026, the NGO had raised a lifetime total of ₦691.6 million, of which about ₦671.8 million had been spent on projects. In August 2026, he said ₦290 million had been spent so far on a school project in Rivers State. These figures come from his own disclosures and have not been independently audited in public reports.

Arrests and Prosecutions

Otse has had repeated encounters with law enforcement.

The Police Impersonation Case

In 2024, police charged him with impersonation over videos in which he wore a police-style uniform and joked that he was a Chief Superintendent of Police and Nigeria’s “number one online police officer”. He was granted ₦2 million bail in November 2024. On August 4, 2026, a Chief Magistrate Court in Abuja struck out the case for lack of evidence, and Otse announced that he had been discharged.

The EFCC Detention

On May 2, 2025, Otse was arrested in Abuja after visiting a GTBank branch with his mother to complain about unauthorized deductions from her account. The arrest by plainclothes officers caused an immediate outcry. The hashtag #FreeVDM trended, protests took place in Abuja, and human rights groups described it as an attack on free expression.

The EFCC later confirmed that it had arrested him following “multiple petitions” alleging financial misconduct, and said he had ignored earlier invitations. It obtained a court order to hold him pending investigation into alleged cybercrime offences. He was released on administrative bail on May 7, 2025, after five days in custody, to his lawyer, Deji Adeyanju. Adeyanju said he had undertaken to produce Otse whenever required and described the EFCC as cooperative.

Otse in 2026

The Coup Trial Video

In June 2026, the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the DSS to investigate how restricted video evidence from the trial of men accused of plotting a coup against President Bola Tinubu had appeared online. The Director of Public Prosecutions told the court he had seen the video on Otse’s social media page and described the leak as a national security issue. The defense lawyers denied any involvement. Media reports later said the DSS had questioned Otse.

Allegations Against a Senior Police Officer

In mid-2026, Otse accused Assistant Inspector-General of Police Moshood Jimoh, formerly Lagos Commissioner of Police, of overseeing a flawed investigation that he said wrongly implicated a businessman in two murders in Lagos. The police denied the allegations, noting that the case was already before a court. In August 2026, however, the police confirmed that they had invited AIG Jimoh for questioning and had also invited Otse to substantiate his claims. Through his lawyer, Otse agreed to appear but asked for the process to be transparent.

Recognition and a Public Split With Davido

In August 2026, Otse received a special award at the Nigerian Bar Association’s Annual General Conference in Rivers State, where he was invited to speak. He told the audience he was there to share his experiences rather than teach law. Some lawyers objected to the invitation.

In July 2026, he publicly discussed his fallout with Davido. He claimed that Davido’s camp had offered him ₦50 million to campaign for Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke, Davido’s uncle, and that the relationship cooled after he refused. He also said Davido never gave him money personally or donated to his NGO. These claims were not independently verified.

Political Ambitions

Otse has built an informal following he calls the Ratel Movement, whose members he describes as the “fourth arm of government”. In August 2026, he announced plans to launch a political party based on the movement, positioning accountability as its central message. No formal registration had been confirmed at the time of writing.

Assessment

Otse’s impact is real but difficult to measure. Some of his campaigns led to regulatory action, and the Bobrisky recording prompted parliamentary hearings and a federal investigation that confirmed prisoners with connections could receive special treatment. His supporters see him as proof that one determined person with a phone can pressure powerful institutions in a country where accountability is often lacking.

His record also includes major errors and questionable tactics. The most dramatic part of the Bobrisky claim was not supported by the panel, which recommended he be prosecuted. He staged a false theft of his own charity’s money, and he faces several defamation suits, one of which led a court to order him to take down posts. Critics argue that he often publishes accusations before verifying them and that this harms the people he targets.

He has been detained, charged and sued repeatedly, but, as of September 2026, no court had convicted him of any offence, and his most prominent criminal case, the police impersonation charge, was struck out. His next phase, as a would-be political leader, will test whether his online influence can translate into formal politics.

Quick Facts

Detail	Information
Real name	Martins Vincent Otse
Known as	VeryDarkMan, VDM, “The Ratel”
Born	April 8, 1994 (widely reported)
Age	32 (as of September 2026)
Origin	Agenebode, Edo State, Nigeria
Base	Abuja
Known for	Online activism, exposés, consumer rights campaigns
NGO	Martins Vincent Otse Initiative (founded October 2024)
Reported NGO donations	₦691.6 million lifetime (his June 2026 disclosure)
Notable detention	EFCC, May 2–7, 2025
Key court outcome	Police impersonation case struck out (August 2026)
Pending matters	Defamation suits including Falana/Falz; others as reported
Movement	Ratel Movement; political party announced (August 2026)
Lawyer	Deji Adeyanju