Falana Faults NBA Over VDM Invitation, Says Conference Should Feature Proven Experts

Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has criticised the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) for inviting social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), to speak at its 2026 Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Falana made his position known during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, where he questioned the decision to feature VDM in a professional gathering attended by lawyers and experts in various fields.

According to him, the NBA’s annual conference should provide an avenue for professionals and individuals with proven experience to engage members of the legal profession on issues within their areas of expertise.

“The NBA brought individuals who had paid their dues, who were coming to engage lawyers intellectually. We are going to learn from them. If you are bringing an expert to discuss the security of the country, either from the public or private sector, such an individual must have contributed to the security architecture of the country.

“But when you bring people who have nothing to do with the security of the country, there are problems. It’s like talking about press freedom, you are going to bring practitioners in that field. Bringing somebody from nowhere to come and entertain you, there are problems with that,” Falana said.

VDM’s invitation to the conference had generated controversy among lawyers and members of the public, with some questioning why a social media commentator was invited to speak at one of the country’s biggest gatherings of legal professionals.

During a plenary session on “Known Gun Men” at the conference, VDM made several claims about the country’s security challenges. He alleged that politics was at the root of insecurity and accused elements within government and security agencies of benefiting from the crisis.

Reports also quoted him as alleging that police officers manning checkpoints along major highways sometimes pass information about travellers to kidnappers and bandits, thereby facilitating abductions for ransom.

He also made a controversial allegation concerning cattle, claiming that the movement and ownership of large numbers of cattle were being used by some government officials to launder stolen public funds.

Meanwhile, VDM’s claims have since drawn reactions, particularly from the Nigeria Police Force.

The Police, through the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Ani Iniedu, rejected VDM’s allegation and invited him to produce the evidence supporting his claim. According to the Police, allegations of such gravity require credible and corresponding evidence, stressing that the institution should not be unfairly damaged by unverified claims.