…describe NBA event comment as “unsubstantiated”
By Chucks Nwonye
The Nigeria Police Force has rejected allegations that its officers manning highway checkpoints are leaking information to kidnappers and bandits, describing the claims made at the Nigerian Bar Association conference in Port Harcourt as damaging, unfair, and unsupported by evidence.
The response followed comments by social media commentator Mr. Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as “VeryDarkMan” or VDM, during the NBA Conference held in the Rivers State capital this week. Otse alleged that police officers stationed at checkpoints along major highways relay details about travellers, particularly wealthy individuals, to criminal gangs, thereby facilitating abductions for ransom.
In a statement signed Thursday by the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Ani Iniedu, the police said it takes all allegations about personnel conduct seriously but insisted that such a grave accusation must be backed by proof.
“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 read, stressing that “Allegations of this gravity demand a corresponding standard of evidence, and that standard has not yet been met.”
The Force argued that personnel deployed to checkpoints across the country are there to prevent crime, detect criminal activity and protect citizens. According to the statement, the same officers accused of aiding kidnappers are routinely confronted by the very criminals they are meant to stop.
“For the avoidance of doubt, police personnel deployed to checkpoints and other locations nationwide are there to prevent crime, detect criminal activity and protect citizens, not to facilitate kidnapping,” Iniedu noted.
“Indeed, these same police officers routinely confront the very criminal elements alleged to be receiving such information.”
The police cited recent attacks on its personnel and infrastructure as evidence of the risks officers face.
“Police personnel have been ambushed, attacked and killed, while police stations, formations and operational assets have equally been targeted by terrorists, kidnappers and other violent criminals,” the statement noted.
The Force said it was concerned that sweeping statements were demoralizing hundreds of thousands of officers who work under difficult and often dangerous conditions, many of them at underfunded checkpoints exposed to armed groups.
“The Nigeria Police Force is made up of hundreds of thousands of officers who report for duty daily under difficult, underfunded, and often dangerous conditions,” the statement stressed, maintaining that “Sweeping public accusations that paint the entire Force as complicit in the crimes it exists to prevent are deeply demoralizing to these officers and unfair to the majority who serve with integrity.”
The police stressed that it does not shield erring officers, noting that: “Where individual officers are found to have compromised their duty, they will face the full weight of internal discipline and the law. But an entire institution should not be condemned on the strength of a public statement made without evidence.”
Central to the police response was a direct challenge to Otse to substantiate his claims. The Force said it was inviting the commentator “to produce, without delay, the evidence upon which he based these serious allegations, including any evidence that police personnel at checkpoints identify wealthy individuals and subsequently transmit information about them to kidnappers for the purpose of facilitating their abduction.”
The police added that any information provided would be treated with urgency and investigated thoroughly. It also urged members of the public with credible evidence of misconduct to channel it through official complaints mechanisms rather than through public pronouncements alone.
While reaffirming its commitment to transparency and accountability, the Force warned that unverified allegations could undermine public trust and national security.
“The sacrifices of our personnel and the integrity of the institution will not be casually diminished by unverified allegations,” Iniedu stated.
“The Force calls on members of the public to exercise responsibility in making and sharing allegations concerning national security institutions and to distinguish between legitimate criticism, which strengthens accountability, and unsubstantiated claims, which can endanger public trust and national security.”
The NBA Conference in Port Harcourt drew thousands of lawyers, civil society actors and public commentators to discuss justice sector reforms and security. The latest exchange brings to fore a growing public frustration over kidnapping across Nigeria’s highways, and the pressure on security agencies to demonstrate both effectiveness and accountability.
As of press time, VDM had not issued a public response to the police invitation to present evidence. But, there are indications that failure for him to honour the invitation may trigger confrontation from the police force.
