Martin “VeryDarkMan” Otse, a controversial Nigerian social critic, was arrested by Nigerian police on Friday at a GTbank branch in Abuja, where he went to complain about suspicious debits from his mother’s account.

Deji Adeyanju, legal counsel to VeryDarkMan, confirmed his arrest in a Facebook post.

“VDM arrested at GTB; demanding accountability is now officially a crime in Nigeria,” Mr Adeyanju wrote without providing further details on why VDM was arrested.

However, Mr Adeyanju told Sahara Reporters, “My client, VeryDarkMan, was arrested today in Abuja by the Nigerian police. His only offence was speaking out about suspicious and repeated debits from his mother’s GTBank account for loans she never took.”

Josephine Adeh, spokesperson for Abuja police, could not be reached for comments. A WhatsApp message sent to her asking why VeryDarkMan was arrested has not been replied to. Peoples Gazette could not immediately reach GTB over the development.

The arrest came days after VeryDarkMan called GTbank out about suspicious debits from his mother’s account.

Earlier on Friday, VeryDarkMan had said he and his mother were at GTBank to complain about

“Myself and my mom just arrived at GTBank to get an explanation for the constant debit from her account by GTBank in the name of loan repayments that she never took. In this year alone, see the amount of times she has been debited with different amounts,” VeryDarkMan wrote on X.

He added, “We have requested her bank statements, so we know when the debiting started. So far, in this year alone, there have been more than seven debits on loan repayments. GTBank staff are cooperating—hopefully, we’ll know why they keep doing this.”