The Nigeria Police Force has challenged social commentator Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, to provide evidence supporting allegations that police officers at checkpoints may be passing information about motorists to kidnappers.
VeryDarkMan made the allegations while speaking at the 2026 Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where he questioned why kidnappings continue along major highways despite the presence of security checkpoints.
He specifically raised concerns about routes such as the Lagos-Abuja and Lokoja corridors, alleging that criminals could obtain information about motorists and identify potential kidnapping targets.
According to reports from the conference, VeryDarkMan claimed that officers could identify motorists who appeared financially capable of paying ransom and potentially pass information to criminal groups.
The claims were made during a panel discussion on Nigeria’s worsening insecurity and were presented as VeryDarkMan’s allegations. No evidence establishing systematic collaboration between police checkpoints and kidnappers was presented during the session.
The police rejected the suggestion that checkpoints routinely provide information to criminals.
Commissioner of Police in charge of Safer Highway operations, Silas Aremu, acknowledged that checkpoints could potentially be abused by individuals within the force but rejected the broader allegation that police officers routinely identify motorists for kidnappers.
He instead said criminals could monitor police checkpoints and exploit their locations and activities.
The controversy has added to the broader debate over police accountability, security infrastructure and the effectiveness of checkpoints in preventing kidnapping across Nigeria.
VeryDarkMan has also criticised security agencies over what he described as failures to identify and apprehend perpetrators commonly referred to as “unknown gunmen.”