Popular Nigerian social media influencer, Martins Vincent Otse, known online as VeryDarkMan (VDM), has been arrested by officers of the Nigeria Police Force in Abuja, reportedly on the orders of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank).
VDM’s legal counsel, Barrister Deji Adeyanju, confirmed the arrest on Friday, stating that his client was picked up by the police in the Area 3 district of Abuja after raising concerns over repeated unauthorized debits from his mother’s GTBank account.
Adeyanju alleged that the arrest was a direct response to VDM’s social media posts, where he publicly called out the bank for deducting loan repayments from an account tied to his mother, despite her never applying for such loans.
“My client was arrested today for simply speaking out about unexplained debits on his mother’s account. GTBank must explain why she’s being charged for loans she never took,” Adeyanju said.
Earlier, VDM posted videos and messages on his social media accounts, showing his visit to a GTBank branch in Abuja to demand transparency. He disclosed that over seven debits had been recorded on the account this year alone and requested a full bank statement to trace the source of the charges.
In a related development from April 14, 2025, another customer, Ariyo Ahmed Adewale, accused GTBank of engineering his arrest after he protested the disappearance of over ₦2 million from his account. Ariyo claimed the bank linked the transactions to the e-commerce platform Jumia—a service he insists he has never used.
Following the protest at a Lagos branch, Ariyo said police officers from Alapere Station intervened, asking him to file a formal complaint and seek legal assistance.
Meanwhile, in an update posted on social media, Adeyanju revealed that VDM is currently being held in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He said lawyers from his legal team had met with VDM’s friend, who was arrested alongside him, at the EFCC facility.
As of the time of filing this report, GTBank has not issued a public statement regarding the incident.
Nzubechukwu Eze
