Police To VDM: “Show Us The Evidence” — Checkpoint Kidnapping Claims Spark New Wahala
Just when Nigerians thought the VDM-versus-NBA gist had settled, the man don find fresh wahala this time with the entire Nigeria Police Force. And this one no be small talk o, na official statement, signed and everything.
Grab your seat, Wahala Network get the full breakdown.
What VDM Actually Said
Fresh from stirring up the legal profession at the Nigerian Bar Association’s Annual Conference in Port Harcourt, VeryDarkMan real name Martins Vincent Otse made an even bigger allegation while addressing insecurity on stage. According to him, some police officers manning checkpoints along major highways identify wealthy travellers and pass their information to kidnappers and bandits, effectively helping criminal networks pick their targets for ransom.
He didn’t stop there. VDM also referenced the reported abduction of a judge travelling from Sokoto State, using the case to argue that insecurity has grown so deep that even members of the judiciary are no longer safe on Nigerian roads.
Coming from a man already known for going toe-to-toe with powerful institutions, the claim landed exactly the way you’d expect like wildfire across every timeline in the country.
Police Say: “Prove It”
This time, the response didn’t come from angry Twitter users or random commentary it came directly from the Nigeria Police Force itself. In an official statement issued by Force spokesperson CSP Ani Iniedu, the police firmly rejected VDM’s allegation, describing it as unsubstantiated and unfairly damaging to an institution responsible for protecting millions of Nigerians.
The statement didn’t mince words. The Force pointed out that officers deployed to checkpoints nationwide exist specifically to prevent crime and protect citizens not facilitate their kidnapping and reminded the public that police personnel are frequently on the receiving end of the very violence VDM described, with officers having been ambushed, attacked, and killed by kidnappers and bandits, and police formations themselves targeted by criminal elements.
Their bottom line was simple: allegations this serious require evidence, and according to the Force, that evidence “has not yet been met.” They formally invited VDM to produce proof specifically, evidence showing officers identifying wealthy travellers and transmitting that information to kidnappers promising that anything credible submitted would be investigated with urgency.
Not The First Pushback
Interestingly, VDM’s claim was already being challenged even before the police statement dropped. At the same NBA conference, the Police Commissioner in charge of Safer Highways, Silas Aremu, had reportedly pushed back live on stage, arguing that while criminals can monitor checkpoint activity and exploit locations, the idea that officers routinely feed traveller details to kidnappers was a step too far.
So by the time the official Force statement landed, the ground had already been somewhat prepared for a clash.
The Numbers Behind The Noise
To be fair to VDM, the broader concern he’s raising isn’t coming out of nowhere. A recent SBM Intelligence report, cited by Reuters, recorded 7,825 kidnapping incidents and 1,142 killings across Nigeria between July 2025 and June 2026, with ransom payments during that period estimated at roughly $5.8 million. Insecurity, in other words, remains a very real and very present crisis the disagreement here isn’t over whether Nigerians are being kidnapped at alarming rates, but over who exactly is helping it happen.
Where This Leaves Things
To its credit, the police statement wasn’t a total stonewall. The Force acknowledged that individual officers can and do compromise their duties, and stressed that any personnel found guilty of misconduct would face internal discipline and prosecution. What they pushed back against was the idea of an entire institution hundreds of thousands of officers working under difficult, underfunded, and dangerous conditions being condemned over a claim made without accompanying proof.
Whether VDM responds with actual documentation, names, or case files remains to be seen. Knowing his track record of digging in rather than backing down, Wahala Network doubts this one dies quietly.
Wahala Network’s Take
This na proper standoff activist versus institution, public trust versus official record. If VDM has receipts, this could blow into one of the biggest security accountability stories of the year. If he doesn’t, the police just handed him a very public and very official challenge that’s hard to walk back from.
