The Nigeria Police Force has firmly restated that the criminal case arising from the Ajiran murders is before a court of competent jurisdiction and must be allowed to run its course, free from social media campaigns and media pressure. The position was set out in a statement issued on Tuesday, 4 August, by Force Public Relations Officer CSP Ani Iniedu, and it leaves little room for ambiguity.
The statement came directly in response to weeks of public allegations by social media influencer Martins Vincent Otse — widely known as VeryDarkMan or VDM — against Assistant Inspector-General of Police Olohundare Moshood Jimoh of Zone 2, Lagos. Otse has used his considerable online following to press the allegations repeatedly and loudly. The Force is now saying, in effect, that the appropriate arena for this dispute is a courtroom, not a comment section.
“The Force will neither conduct the trial in the media nor permit public campaigns to determine the outcome of proceedings already before the courts,” the statement read. That is a clear line in the sand. The case has already been investigated and prosecuted on the basis of legal advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP), making it sub judice — meaning it is now a matter for judicial determination alone.
AIG Jimoh himself broke his silence ahead of the Force’s statement, but his response was notably restrained. He declined to trade words on social media and instead called on anyone with genuine evidence of misconduct or corruption against him to submit it through the proper legal channels. Whether that restraint reflects confidence or caution is a question worth sitting with.
Away from the public noise, two parallel processes are already moving. The Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) in Abuja has invited Jimoh for questioning as part of an internal accountability review — independent of the criminal proceedings in court. That matters: it signals that the Force is not simply closing ranks around a senior officer.
Separately, the FCID issued a formal invitation dated 30 July to Otse himself, asking him to appear before investigators and substantiate the allegations he has been broadcasting publicly. The Force made clear that both invitations reflect the same principle — credible allegations against any officer, regardless of rank, will be examined through established disciplinary procedures.
The Force acknowledged Nigerians’ constitutional right to free expression and to demand accountability from public institutions. However, it drew a firm distinction between legitimate criticism and the circulation of unverified allegations designed to influence disciplinary or judicial outcomes. Where allegations are found to be deliberately false and damaging, the Force says it reserves the right to pursue legal remedies.
There is a broader point here that goes beyond this particular dispute. The Ajiran murders case is serious — it involves criminal allegations that are now before a court. Allowing social media pressure to dictate how such a case unfolds would be a dangerous precedent, regardless of who is making the noise or how popular they are online. The judicial process exists precisely to weigh evidence without the distortion of public sentiment.
The Force has called on Otse to honour the FCID invitation and cooperate with investigators. It has also called on the public to use recognised oversight and complaint mechanisms rather than online campaigns when raising concerns about police conduct. “No officer is above the law, and no genuine complaint is ignored, nor will any officer be sanctioned outside the procedures the law prescribes,” the statement concluded. That is the standard the Force has set for itself — and it is one the public will be watching it meet.