Police Come for VDM Over Allegations of Officers Helping Bandits, Kidnappers

The Nigeria Police Force has challenged social media personality Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VDM, to provide evidence backing his allegations that some police officers provide information to bandits and kidnappers and rent firearms to criminals.

The development followed comments made by VDM during the Nigerian Bar Association conference on Tuesday, where he criticised the welfare and remuneration of police officers.

VDM alleged that some officers had compromised their duties by providing information to bandits and making firearms available to criminals.

He also claimed that some police officers at checkpoints identify wealthy individuals and pass their information to kidnappers to facilitate abductions.

The allegations have now drawn a strong response from the Nigeria Police Force.

In a statement on Thursday, Force spokesperson Ani Iniedu said the seriousness of the allegations required a corresponding standard of evidence, which he said had not been provided.

The Police Force rejected the allegations as unsubstantiated, saying broad accusations against police officers were unfair to personnel who risk their lives to protect Nigerians.

The Force, however, acknowledged that individual officers found to have compromised their duties would face internal disciplinary action and prosecution where necessary.

“Where individual officers are found to have compromised their duty, they will face the full weight of internal discipline and the law,” Iniedu said.

The Police Force subsequently invited VDM to submit the evidence behind his allegations, including his claim that officers at checkpoints identify wealthy individuals and subsequently transmit their information to kidnappers.

It said any evidence submitted would be treated as urgent and investigated thoroughly.

The police also urged members of the public with credible evidence of police misconduct to report such cases through appropriate channels to enable investigation and necessary action.

The development puts VDM under pressure to substantiate the serious allegations he made publicly, particularly the claims linking police personnel to banditry, kidnapping and the alleged supply of firearms to criminals.

The Police Force maintained that while individual officers found guilty of misconduct would be dealt with according to the law, the entire institution should not be condemned on the basis of allegations made without evidence.