Video does not show ‘VeryDarkMan’ after his release from Police detention

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Summary

A video showing a controversial social media influencer, Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as the ‘VeryDarkMan’ exchanging pleasantries with people has surfaced online with a claim that he has been released from police detention.

VERDICT: The claim that the video shows the ‘VeryDarkMan’ after he was released from Police detention is MISLEADING; the viral video is unrelated to his recent arrest and detention, as it was an old footage from December 2023.

A video showing a controversial social media influencer, Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as the ‘VeryDarkMan’ exchanging pleasantries with people has surfaced online with a claim that he has been released from police detention. 

The social media influencer was reportedly arrested recently for cyberbullying and has been in detention since then.

Read: Video does not show bandits arrested by Nigerian Army recently

A popular online blog, @Instablog9ja posted the video with a caption thus: 

“Verydarkman is reportedly out of police detention.”

The post has garnered more than one million views, plus over 16,000 likes, more than 1,800 reposts and over 1,000 comments as of March 28, 2024. 

Another X account, @MezieBlogNG, had earlier posted the same video with a caption thus: 

“VERY DARK MAN (VDM) is out of Police Custody today after fulfilling his bail conditions.” 

The post has generated over 140,000 views, with more than 1000 likes and over 200 reposts as of March 28, 2024. 

The post has also been shared by various accounts on X. 

 

CLAIM 

Video shows the ‘VeryDarkMan’ after he was released from Police detention.

 

THE FINDINGS

Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING.

Screenshot of the viral post purportedly showing darkman after he was released/ The claim is MISLEADING.
Screenshot of the viral post purportedly showing VeryDarkMan after he was released. INSERT: MISLEADING verdict.

The FactCheckHub conducted a keyword search on the internet and the result revealed that the video showed the arrival of ‘VeryDarkMan’ ahead of a comedy show held in Calabar on December 24, 2023. A close examination of the background of the video also revealed that it was shot at Margaret Ekpo International Airport, Calabar in Cross River state.

He was received by the show organizers including Gbadamosi ThankGod Bernard, professionally known as Koboko Master and  Kenneth Oguche, also known as Sarkin Dariya. Gbadamosi, who was in the video, also debunked the video via an X post saying that the video is an old video and unrelated. He added that the social media influencer is still in Police detention.

Following the event last December, the ‘VeryDarkMan’ narrated how he came to the rescue of the show organizers at the last minute after Emmanuel Chukwuemeka Ejekiru popularly called Sabinus reportedly failed to honour the event. 

Further findings by The FactCheckHub show that the last update given by his lawyer a few hours before the video started going viral on Tuesday was that the social media influencer had been granted bail on “stringent terms” but the Police said they needed approval from top authorities before he could be released.

In addition, our fact-checker reviewed various media reports and found out that the news of his release was not reported by any credible media platform.  

 

THE VERDICT

The claim that the video shows the ‘VeryDarkMan’ after he was released from Police detention is MISLEADING; the viral video is unrelated to his recent arrest and detention, as it was an old footage from December 2023.

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Nurudeen Akewushola is a fact-checker with FactCheckHub. He has authored several fact checks which have contributed to the fight against information disorder. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 via Twitter.

@Instablog9ja via X.

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