BBC News Pidgin has insisted it stands by its report on the reason for the arrest of controversial social media personality Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The clarification came after the EFCC dismissed BBC’s report on Monday, labelling it “fake news” in a post shared across the commission’s social media platforms.

Earlier on Monday, BBC News Pidgin quoted EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale as saying that VeryDarkMan was arrested following “multiple petitions” filed against him.

Oyewale was also quoted as saying, “We will release him once he meets the bail conditions, and we will take the case to court as soon as possible. We are law-abiding.”

In response to the EFCC’s denial, BBC doubled down on its stance on on Tuesday, posting a screenshot of its article with the caption:

“BBC stand gidigba for we journalism and di facts wey we report for dis tori.

“We dey committed to impartiality, independent tori and we go kontinu to dey tok truth witout fear or favour.

“Tori wey we dey tell around di world dey guided by public interest and we dey folow highest editorial standards.”

The message translated into English reads,
“We stand firmly by our journalism and the facts we reported in this story.

“We are committed to impartial, independent reporting and will continue to speak the truth without fear or favour.

“The stories we tell around the world are guided by public interest, and we adhere to the highest editorial standards.”

VeryDarkMan was reportedly arrested last Friday shortly after visiting a GTBank branch in the Area 3 district of Garki, Abuja.