Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has strongly criticized the arrest and continued detention of social media influencer Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), describing it as “a blatant abuse of power” by the Tinubu administration.
In a statement released today, Atiku decried the influencer’s detention without formal charges as a “flagrant violation of constitutional rights” and a “chilling reminder of growing authoritarianism” in Nigeria.
He accused the Tinubu-led government of turning political repression into a hallmark of its rule, targeting dissenters and critics while allowing political loyalists facing credible corruption allegations to walk free.
“The systematic crackdown on opposition voices by this administration is disgraceful and an affront to democratic norms,” Atiku stated, calling on Nigerians to resist what he described as state-sponsored repression.
