IBADAN – The recent arrest of popular Nigerian social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, widely known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), has been generating series of reactions among Nigerians. Just as the Guaranty Trust Bank GTB involvement’s over the issue was described by a seasoned journalist, Isaac Asabor as a “Victim of Narrative Manipulation.” Isaac Asabor’s digression over the issue stated as this, “Let us pause here and consider the logic behind this outrage. A citizen walks into a bank to make a complaint, a right guaranteed by his status as a customer. He is attended to and then exits the premises. Sometime after that, he is arrested by officers of the Nigeria Police Force. Yet somehow, without evidence or an official statement linking the two events, the bank becomes the villain in the eyes of the public. If that is not a textbook example of scapegoating, what is?” “In the age of social media, it has become far too easy for misinformation to spread like wildfire, and in the process, facts are trampled, reputations are dragged, and innocent entities are often scapegoated. “Since the news of his arrest broke, many Nigerians on social media have been quick to point fingers, and unfortunately, one of the first institutions to fall under the weight of public outrage was Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank). The basis of this backlash? VDM had earlier visited one of the bank’s branches in Abuja to lodge a complaint regarding alleged unauthorized transactions from his mother’s bank account. “Let us pause here and consider the logic behind this outrage. A citizen walks into a bank to make a complaint, a right guaranteed by his status as a customer. He is attended to and then exits the premises. Sometime after that, he is arrested by officers of the Nigeria Police Force. Yet somehow, without evidence or an official statement linking the two events, the bank becomes the villain in the eyes of the public. If that is not a textbook example of scapegoating, what is? “Thankfully, in this case, we are not operating in an information vacuum. VDM’s own legal representatives, Barrister Deji Adeyanju, a well-known human rights lawyer, have publicly clarified the sequence of events as he explicitly stated that his client was not arrested inside or outside any GTBank branch. According to Adeyanju, the arrest occurred in Area 3, a different part of Abuja, hours after the bank visit. “Furthermore, the legal team later discovered that VDM was being detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), not GTBank, not private security operatives, and certainly not on bank premises. These are not speculations; they are statements made by legal professionals actively involved in the case. “So, what exactly did GTBank do wrong? Listen to a customer’s complaint? Allow a citizen to use their platform to seek help over suspected fraud on an account? Since when did being present at a location prior to an arrest translate to complicity? customer who visited one of its branches, is not its fault, and should not be made to seem like it is. “To allow this misinformation to fester unchallenged is to participate in the erosion of corporate integrity. Tomorrow, it could be another bank, another school, another public institution, all falsely accused because they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. “There are more important questions that deserve the public’s attention: Why was VDM arrested? What charges, if any, have been formally filed against him? Was due process followed in his arrest and detention? What role is the EFCC playing, and how transparent has it been in its handling of this matter? “These are the real issues that demand scrutiny. Redirecting anger toward an uninvolved party not only derails the conversation but also lets the real actors off the hook. Exonerating GTBank in this context is not a recourse to shield institutions from criticism, rather, it is an act of advocating for fairness, truth, and focus. “It is said that in times of confusion, facts are our best compass. That compass is clearly pointing in the direction of GTBank’s innocence in the arrest of VeryDarkMan. The bank neither instigated, facilitated, nor benefited from the event. The arrest was a state action, carried out in a different location, and connected, according to legal sources, to entirely different matters. “Let us not make GTBank the scapegoat for an incident in which it played no role. Let us be mature enough to separate presence from participation, and coincidence from conspiracy. “Social media may thrive on heat, but newspapers, and history, must favor light. The truth is simple and unembellished: GTBank did not arrest VeryDarkMan. And that should be the end of it.” Isaac Asabor stated.
