In blatant violation of Nigeria’s constitutional provisions, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has continued to detain Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), for more than 48 hours without formally charging him to court.
Development Diaries reports that the EFCC, on Monday, confirmed the arrest of VDM, failing to promptly notify the public or even his legal representatives. This is a violation of due process that has become all too familiar.
This unacceptable development is not an isolated incident, as the EFCC has demonstrated a consistent disregard for constitutional rights in the past few years.
In 2020, EFCC operatives stormed a hotel in Ibadan at night, breaking into rooms without warrants and detaining dozens of young Nigerians, many of whom were later released without charges.
In 2021, during a raid in Lagos, videos emerged of EFCC agents forcibly entering properties without court orders, sparking public outrage.
In 2022, over 60 youths were arrested at a nightclub in Akure, Ondo State, and paraded as criminals before any formal investigation; a clear case of guilty-until-proven-innocent tactics.
And now in 2025, we are witnessing the same playbook with VDM: secrecy, prolonged detention, and silence.
These acts show a pattern: arrest first, justify later, a direct affront to Section 35(4) of the Nigerian constitution, which requires that any arrested person be charged within 48 hours, especially in urban areas like Abuja where courts are accessible.
What makes the VDM case especially alarming is that the EFCC, an agency established to uphold the law, seems comfortable operating outside of it.
When arrests become covert, prolonged, and opaque, how do citizens distinguish between a legal operation and state-sponsored abduction?
If an agency charged with upholding justice refuses to follow due process, then the entire concept of rule of law is under siege.
Development Diaries therefore calls for the immediate release of VDM or, at the very least, his prompt arraignment in court, in line with the constitution.
We also call on the National Assembly to initiate an urgent public hearing on repeated EFCC violations of citizens’ rights, and amend relevant laws to include stricter oversight of arrest and detention procedures.
No Nigerian, regardless of social status or influence, should be denied access to legal safeguards enshrined in the constitution.
Photo source: VeryDarkMan/IG
