The Nigeria Police Force has rejected allegations made at the Nigerian Bar Association Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt that officers manning checkpoints along major highways relay information about travellers to kidnappers, and has invited the social media commentator who made them to produce his evidence without delay.
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The Force set out its position in a statement issued by the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Ani Iniedu, at Force Headquarters, Abuja, dated 27 August 2026.
The statement records that the attention of the Force was drawn to comments made by Mr Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as Very Dark Man, at the conference, “in which he alleged that police officers manning checkpoints along major highways relay information to kidnappers and bandits regarding the identity and movement of travellers, thereby facilitating abductions for ransom.”
The Force said it takes all allegations concerning the conduct of its personnel seriously, and set out its response under four headings.
On the nature of the allegation, the statement said: “The Nigeria Police Force firmly rejects these allegations as unsubstantiated and unfairly damaging to an institution entrusted with the protection of millions of Nigerians. Allegations of this gravity demand a corresponding standard of evidence, and that standard has not yet been met.”
It set out the purpose of the deployments in question. “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.”
It pointed to the losses the Force has sustained. “Indeed, these same police officers routinely confront the very criminal elements alleged to be receiving such information. 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.”
Under its second heading, the Force said the accusation falls on personnel serving in difficult conditions.
“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, many of them at checkpoints exposed to the very criminal elements they are trying to keep off our roads,” the statement said.
It continued: “Sweeping public accusations that paint the entire Force as complicit in the crimes it exists to prevent are deeply demoralising to these officers and unfair to the majority who serve with integrity.”
The statement did not exclude individual culpability. “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.”
Under its third heading, the Force issued a direct invitation.
“Accordingly, the Nigeria Police Force hereby invites Mr Martins Vincent Otse 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 statement said.
It undertook to act on whatever is produced. “Any such information will be treated with urgency and investigated thoroughly.”
It extended the invitation more broadly. “We encourage any member of the public with credible evidence of officer misconduct to come forward through these channels rather than through public allegation alone, so that appropriate action can be taken.”
Under its final heading, the Force restated its commitment to accountability while defending the standing of the institution.
“The Nigeria Police Force remains committed to transparency and accountability. We will continue to investigate all credible allegations of misconduct, however they arise, and we will not hesitate to act where wrongdoing is established,” the statement said.
It added: “However, the sacrifices of our personnel and the integrity of the institution will not be casually diminished by unverified allegations. Anyone with credible evidence of misconduct should bring it forward through the appropriate channels for investigation in accordance with the law.”
The statement closed with an appeal to the public. “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 response follows a similar demand issued on 25 August by Douglas Ogbankwa, Esq., Convener of the Security Situation Room, who gave the commentator seven days to publish his evidence, retract and apologise, or prepare to substantiate his claims before a court.
That letter, which addressed a broader allegation said to have been made from the same platform concerning the State Security Service, the Police and the Armed Forces, specified six categories of proof it demanded, and argued that to indict an institution of over 500,000 personnel without proof is reckless and dangerous.
The presence of the commentator at the conference has itself been the subject of debate within the profession. The journalist Dr Reuben Abati defended the Association’s widening of its guest list, arguing that lawyers have an obligation to hear the whole community they serve, while Dr Monday Ubani, SAN, wrote in an interim assessment of the conference that certain personalities should not grace a programme organised for lawyers, and that the gathering should not be converted into a circus show.
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