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Nigerian social media activist and public commentator Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), has led a protest in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, over the continued captivity of dozens of schoolchildren and teachers abducted in Oyo State.
Otse, alongside members of the Ratel Movement, marched through the streets of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Wednesday night shortly after returning from China.
The group later converged at the Nigerian Air Force Base in Abuja.
Videos circulating on social media showed crowds of mostly young Nigerians waving the national flag and chanting: “APC must go! APC must go! Tinubu must go!”
A group of Nigerians, led by social media activist VeryDarkMan, held a midnight protest in Abuja, demanding urgent action on worsening insecurity and the recent abduction of pupils and teachers in Oriire LGA, Oyo State. pic.twitter.com/UjgYYWtE3a
— News Central TV (@NewsCentralTV) June 11, 2026
Addressing security personnel while seated outside the Air Force Base gate, Otse criticised what he described as the slow response by authorities to secure the release of more than 40 schoolchildren and teachers abducted from Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State on May 15, 2026.
“Air Force, if you have bullets to shoot us, you have bullets to shoot kidnappers. Go and shoot kidnappers. Go and shoot bandits. Carry your airplane,” Otse said.
“They keep raping our women. They keep taking our children. Forty-five children are still in the bush till now. Nothing has been done, and you are here holding a gun. Are you not ashamed?”
The protest comes nearly a month after gunmen raided three communities in Oriire Local Government Area and abducted dozens of schoolchildren and teachers. One of the abducted teachers was reportedly beheaded while in captivity.
Teachers and community members have also staged demonstrations in recent weeks, demanding the immediate release of the victims and stronger government action against insecurity.
