By Mardiyyah Abubakar
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has honoured social media influencer Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, with a special recognition award at its 2026 Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Otse received the award on Tuesday after participating as a panellist at the conference, where he shared his experiences and spoke about insecurity and other national issues.
Presenting the award on behalf of the NBA president and members, the moderator thanked Otse for attending the conference and sharing his experiences with participants.
The moderator also urged him to report attacks to the police rather than resorting to violence.
Otse had earlier explained that he was invited to the conference to share his experiences, not to lecture lawyers on legal matters.
Speaking during the session, he expressed concern over insecurity and criticised what he described as inadequate media coverage of killings and attacks across the country.
He also recounted his experience at Yelwata in Benue State following the June 13, 2025 attack, which reportedly killed more than 200 people and destroyed property worth millions of naira.
Otse said he had witnessed the aftermath of violent attacks and described himself as a first responder at Yelwata.
His appearance at the NBA conference has continued to attract public attention, particularly because of his outspoken advocacy on insecurity and other national issues.
