The Nigeria Police Force has rejected allegations that officers deployed to checkpoints along major highways provide kidnappers and bandits with information about travellers, challenging social media commentator Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as Very Dark Man, to produce evidence supporting his claims.
The Force made its position known in a statement issued by the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Ani Iniedu, at Force Headquarters, Abuja, on August 27, 2026.
According to the statement, the police were responding to comments allegedly made by Otse during the Nigerian Bar Association Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt, where he claimed that officers manning highway checkpoints identify travellers and pass information about their movements to kidnappers and bandits, allegedly facilitating ransom abductions.
The Nigeria Police Force described the allegations as serious, unsubstantiated and damaging to an institution responsible for protecting millions of Nigerians.
“The Nigeria Police Force firmly rejects these allegations as unsubstantiated and unfairly damaging to an institution entrusted with the protection of millions of Nigerians,” the statement said, stressing that allegations of such gravity require corresponding evidence.
The Force maintained that officers deployed to checkpoints nationwide are tasked with preventing crime, detecting criminal activity and protecting citizens, rather than facilitating kidnapping.
It also pointed to the risks faced by police personnel in the course of their duties, noting that officers regularly confront the same criminal elements allegedly receiving information from checkpoints.
According to the Force, police officers have been ambushed, attacked and killed, while police stations, operational formations and other assets have also been targeted by terrorists, kidnappers and other violent criminals.
The police further defended the conduct of its personnel, saying hundreds of thousands of officers report for duty daily under difficult, underfunded and dangerous conditions.
Many, it noted, work at checkpoints exposed to the same criminal threats they are deployed to prevent.
The Force said sweeping accusations portraying the entire police institution as complicit in criminal activities were demoralising to officers and unfair to the majority who serve with integrity.
However, it stressed that individual officers found to have compromised their duties would not be shielded.
“Where individual officers are found to have compromised their duty, they will face the full weight of internal discipline and the law,” the statement said.
The Force nevertheless maintained that an entire institution should not be condemned based solely on a public allegation made without supporting evidence.
In a direct challenge to Otse, the police invited him to produce, without delay, whatever evidence he relied upon in making the allegations.
The Force specifically requested evidence supporting the claim that police officers at checkpoints identify wealthy individuals and subsequently transmit information about them to kidnappers to facilitate their abduction.
It said any evidence submitted would be treated as urgent and subjected to a thorough investigation.
The police also urged members of the public who possess credible evidence of misconduct by officers to come forward through appropriate channels rather than relying solely on public allegations.
The Force reiterated its commitment to transparency and accountability, saying it would investigate credible allegations of misconduct regardless of how they emerge and take action whenever wrongdoing is established.
At the same time, it warned that unverified allegations could undermine public confidence in security institutions and potentially endanger national security.
The police response follows a similar demand issued on August 25 by Douglas Ogbankwa, Esq., Convener of the Security Situation Room.
Ogbankwa reportedly gave Otse seven days to publish evidence supporting his allegations, retract the claims and apologise, or be prepared to substantiate them in court.
His letter addressed broader allegations reportedly made from the same platform involving the State Security Service, the police and the Armed Forces. It outlined six categories of evidence being demanded and argued that accusing an institution comprising more than 500,000 personnel without proof was reckless and dangerous.
Meanwhile, Otse’s appearance at the NBA conference has also generated debate within the legal profession.
Journalist Dr Reuben Abati defended the association’s decision to broaden its guest list, arguing that lawyers have a responsibility to hear from the wider community they serve.
However, Dr Monday Ubani, SAN, in an interim assessment of the conference, argued that certain personalities should not have featured on a programme organised for lawyers, warning against turning the gathering into what he described as a circus show.
The controversy has therefore extended beyond the allegations themselves, raising questions about the balance between public criticism, accountability and the responsibility to substantiate serious claims against national security institutions.
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