{"id":118253,"date":"2025-05-03T06:53:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-03T05:53:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=118253"},"modified":"2025-05-03T06:53:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-03T05:53:09","slug":"lawyers-protest-efcc-arrest-of-vdm-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/lawyers-protest-efcc-arrest-of-vdm-others\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawyers Protest EFCC\u2019 Arrest of VDM, Others"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Daniel Adaji<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Lawyers representing social media personalities Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan(VDM), and Steven Avuara (C-Pack), have accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of human rights violations following their arrest on Thursday, in Abuja.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">In a preliminary statement issued by Deji Adeyanju &amp; Partners, the legal team condemned the arrest and detention of the two men, describing the actions of EFCC officers as &#8220;a clear breach&#8221; of their clients\u2019 constitutional rights.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The duo were reportedly picked up<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">by operatives of the EFCC when VDM v8sited the Garki, Area 3 branch of Guaranty Trust Bank to sort out the frequent deductions from his mother&#8217;s account to service a controversial loan.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cOur clients were arrested at gunpoint, beaten, and blindfolded by men in black uniforms shortly after they exited the Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) premises at Garki, Area 3, Abuja,\u201d the lawyers stated. \u201cOne of them, Mr. Martins Otse, was so traumatized he refused to see anyone.\u201d<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">In the statement signed by Zainab Otega for the firm, the lawyers said their clients had gone to the bank to make inquiries about \u201cincessant deductions\u201d from Mrs. Blessing Otse\u2019s account\u2014VDM&#8217;s mother. As they tried to leave, the trio was reportedly trapped in a security door for over five minutes before the armed men accosted and assaulted them.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Lawyers Marvin Omorogbe and Steven Eze confirmed their clients&#8217; detention at EFCC\u2019s Headquarters in Jabi, Abuja. Upon arrival, they were directed to the Special Duty Committee (SDC) Unit 4, where a certain Mr. Chukwu was identified as the lead officer handling the case.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Although the legal team was denied access to VDM, they met with Mr. Avuara, who detailed the violent circumstances of their arrest. According to him, the EFCC operatives labeled them as &#8220;bandits&#8221; and threatened to shoot them in front of Mrs. Otse.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The EFCC allegedly failed to inform the detainees of the charges against them. While an arrest warrant for VDM was shown\u2014purportedly issued by Magistrate Njideka Iloanya-Duru on grounds of cyberstalking\u2014no such information was provided to Mr. Avvara.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cDespite several requests, EFCC operatives refused to state the allegation against Mr. Avuara but proceeded to interrogate him. This violates his right to be informed of any charges before questioning,\u201d the lawyers said.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">In protest, the legal representatives withdrew from the interrogation and left the EFCC premises.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">As of press time, the whereabouts of Mrs. Blessing Otse remain unknown. The firm is calling on the EFCC to respect the constitutionally guaranteed rights of its clients as they continue to engage with the commission.<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Daniel Adaji Lawyers representing social media personalities Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan(VDM), and Steven Avuara (C-Pack), have accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of human rights&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":118254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - 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