A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered the remand of social media influencer Martin Otse popularly known as VeryDarkMan in police custody until his next hearing scheduled for May 29.
VeryDarkMan, 29, was arraigned on Wednesday on five counts of cyberstalking involving the police and actresses Iyabo Ojo and Tonto Dikeh.
He pleaded not guilty.
Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon remanded VeryDarkMan after the police said they needed more time to respond to the influencer’s lawyer Deji Adeyanju’s bail application.
The prosecution sought to have the blogger remanded in prison custody, but his lawyers successfully argued for his remand in police custody instead.
The court granted this request, and Verydarkman was subsequently taken to the National Cybercrime Centre.
Charge one reads that Verydarkman posted a video on October 29, 2023, on his Instagram handle that contained offensive, pornographic, or menacing information, where he falsely alleged that Iyabo Ojo had an indecent sexual relationship with her daughter.
Charge two reads that the Instagram celebrity posted a video on January 19, 2024, on the photo-sharing app where he falsely accused Tonto Dikeh of criminal conversion of crowdfunding proceeds and being behind the Gistlover blog, intending to cause annoyance, inconvenience, and other harm.
Charge four reads that Verydarkman posted a video on March 19, 2024, claiming that crossdresser Bobrisky was pimping young boys to senators and senior police officers, intending to cause annoyance, inconvenience, and other harm.
