Social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, has apologised to soldiers, policemen, customs and immigration personnel over his controversial remarks at the Nigerian Bar Association’s 66th Annual General Conference.
Otse, in a video shared on Friday, said he had reflected on his speech and realised that he was unfair to security personnel who were genuinely risking their lives to protect Nigerians.
The activist had, while speaking at the conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, described the military, police, immigration and customs personnel as “unknown gunmen” in his discussion on insecurity.
However, in Friday’s video, Otse said his remarks were not intended to accuse all security personnel of involvement in criminal activities.
“I don’t think I was fair to a lot of people, particularly the speech where I said that the military are the unknown gunmen, the police are the unknown gunmen, you know, the immigration, the customs.
“I know exactly what I was trying to say because, I mean, I have evidence to back up my claim, but I wasn’t fair to a lot of people in that speech,” he said.
He said he was particularly concerned about soldiers fighting Boko Haram and other threats in the bushes.
“That speech was not fair, especially to the soldiers that are in the bushes fighting Boko Haram to protect our lands, to protect our lives, and to protect our families.
“I don’t think it’s fair to say they are also the unknown gunmen, to be very honest, because these people have laid down their lives,” he said.
Otse said his intention was to draw attention to alleged corruption and sabotage by some personnel within the security agencies.
“My speech was not to discourage you.
“My speech was entirely to talk about the bad eggs in our security operative, our security forces, is to put attention on the bad eggs, so that the leaders in these security settings will look inward and to see that sometimes information are being leaked and their own people are sabotaging them,” he said.
He, however, admitted that the way he presented his argument made it appear as though he was generalising.
“But by passing that speech, like I said, it seems like I was generalising and it’s not fair to the fallen soldiers,” he said.
Otse subsequently apologised to the Chief of Defence Staff and the leadership of the security agencies.
“So I will go further to say to the Chief of Defence Staff, Sir, I really want to apologise for that speech, and I don’t want to discourage your boys.
“Please extend my apologies to your boys, to the ones that are in the bush protecting our lands,” he said.
He also apologised to the police, customs and immigration authorities, as well as the families of fallen security personnel.
“To the families of these heroes that might have also felt offended by this speech, knowing fully well that their brother, their sister, their son, their husband fought and died for this country, I am really, really sorry,” he said.
The activist maintained that there were still “a lot of good people” within the security agencies despite his allegations against some personnel.
“Yes, a lot of bad eggs there, like I said, a lot of bad eggs, a lot of them are there.
“A lot of corrupt generals, a lot of high-ranking police officers are corrupt, a lot of junior officers are corrupt, a lot of them are there. But there’s still a lot of more good people, a lot of more good people, and I know a lot of them,” he said.
Otse said he feared his comments could discourage a soldier fighting in the bush who came across the video.
“Imagine a soldier fighting in the bush and he watches VDM’s video, and he’s like, ‘Ah, VDM is one of us now, unknown gunman.’ That would discourage him, to be honest,” he said.
The activist, who has previously spoken about alleged misconduct by security personnel, said his relationship with some policemen had also exposed him to the challenges facing the force.
“Me and police, we work steady. I give, sometimes I share police information, tell them, ‘Oh, this is what is happening here, please, can you intercept,” he said.
He urged security personnel who were genuinely protecting the country not to be discouraged by his comments.
“And please don’t be discouraged, please, please, don’t be discouraged.
“We’re there behind you now, and we’ll always support you. You know, and we are part of this thing, security is for all of us,” he said.
Otse, however, maintained his warning to personnel allegedly involved in sabotage, arms supply and leaking information to terrorists.
“But then again, to the bad eggs, your days are numbered.
“To all of you in the military that are sabotaging and causing deaths to your officers, your days are numbered,” he said.
The apology comes amid controversy over Otse’s appearance at the NBA conference, where his participation and comments generated criticism.
Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, had rejected the defence of Otse’s role at the conference and called for experienced speakers to handle specialised discussions at the event.
Otse subsequently responded to critics by defending his invitation to the conference and explaining why he was invited to speak.
