Loading ...ABUJA, NIGERIA — The Department of State Services (DSS) has subjected popular social media influencer and activist Martins Vincent Otse, widely known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), to hours of intense interrogation.
The questioning follows an explicit directive by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja, who ordered a full-scale security probe into how a highly restricted video exhibit from an ongoing coup trial was leaked and circulated across the influencer’s social media handles.
The restricted audio-visual recording is central evidence in the state’s ongoing prosecution of six men accused of orchestrating a failed 2024 plot to violently overthrow President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
The Courtroom Confrontation
The legal drama escalated during court proceedings on June 23 and 24, 2026. The Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation (DPPF), Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), alerted the court that the protected video—showing confidential interrogation sessions of the coup suspects—was actively circulating on VeryDarkMan’s platforms, where it had already amassed thousands of views.
Oyedepo described the leak as a severe national security breach that directly compromised the court’s witness protection orders, urging the judge to identify how the sensitive material left the custody of either the judiciary or the Ministry of Justice.
VeryDarkMan, who happened to be sitting among the courtroom audience during the session, was subsequently tracked down by the secret police.
The Interrogation and The “Samsung Auto-Save” Defense
Confirming his release in the early hours of Thursday, June 25, 2026, VeryDarkMan revealed that he underwent a grueling interrogation session at the DSS headquarters but maintained his absolute innocence regarding the initial leak.
“I got home around 2 a.m. after spending hours at the DSS office, where I was interrogated and investigated over a video I posted,” VeryDarkMan stated. “I was asked to explain how I obtained the video, and I told them the whole truth.”
According to investigative sources, the influencer’s formal defense rested on two primary technical arguments:
- The Public Account Factor: As a high-profile online personality, his direct contact lines and social media submission channels are entirely public and accessible to anonymous tipsters, whistleblowers, and random message senders daily.
- The Smart Device Configuration: VeryDarkMan explained to DSS operatives that he utilizes a Samsung smartphone equipped with default settings that automatically download and save incoming media files into his local gallery—even if he has no personal relationship with or knowledge of the sender’s identity.
He firmly stressed to the authorities that he played zero role in the illicit creation, exfiltration, or unauthorized retrieval of the file from official court databases.
Context: Inside the Volatile Coup Trial
The substantive case involves six defendants, including Sheikh Sani Abdulkadir, who are facing heavy treasonable charges. The prosecution recently concluded its case in a “trial-within-trial,” which was triggered after defense lawyers claimed the suspects’ confessional statements were extracted under torture and coercion.
A military witness, identified under the protective pseudonym “DDD,” rejected the torture claims in court, arguing that the defendants walked into the interrogation room freely. The witness pointed out that if the suspects’ feet had been chained as claimed, the clanking sound of the irons would have been clearly audible in the very audio-visual exhibits that were subsequently leaked to the public.
While all six defense teams have formally denied leaking the exhibits to the media, Justice Abdulmalik has affirmed that the DSS probe will run concurrently as a separate, distinct case. The court has fixed July 20, 2026, to rule on the defendants’ pending bail applications.
