By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
ANigerian cryptocurrency entrepreneur and the founder of Blord Group, Linus Williams Ifejirika, popularly known as Blord or B-Lord, has been remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre for 26 days after being arraigned before the Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations of criminal conspiracy, impersonation, and unauthorised use of a public figure’s identity.
The case stems from a petition filed by social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, who accused Blord of falsely using his name and image to promote business ventures and products without consent 
According to VeryDarkMan, the businessman was arraigned on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, on multiple criminal counts before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
After the charges were read, Blord pleaded not guilty to the allegations. The court subsequently ordered his remand at the Kuje Correctional Centre for 26 days pending further hearing of the case.
VeryDarkMan disclosed that the case has been adjourned until April 27, when the court is expected to continue proceedings.
In a video posted on his Facebook page, VeryDarkMan accused Blord of forging documents, printing promotional materials with his face, and falsely claiming a multi-million-naira endorsement deal.
“As you all know, Mr. Linus forged flight tickets with my name ‘Martins Otse’ and claimed I was coming to Onitsha to join him in launching his Blunt Gadget app,” VeryDarkMan wrote.
“He also claimed he paid me N500 million to be his brand ambassador and said I approved the Billpoint app. He printed a billboard with my face on it and claimed I was his ambassador without my permission. He also printed different fliers with my face on them claiming we had an agreement.”
The activist insisted that none of the claims were true, adding that he has consistently refused promotional deals on his social media platforms.
“All of these are false because I, Martins Vincent Otse, have boldly written on all my social media bios that I do not take adverts or promotions,” he stated.
VeryDarkMan also revealed that he has previously rejected lucrative endorsement offers in order to maintain what he described as the integrity of his brand.
“It will also interest Nigerians to know I have turned down ambassadorship deals worth over N700 million because I intend to use my brand for something meaningful,” he added.
In a video shared online after the court proceedings, VeryDarkMan claimed he followed law enforcement officials as Blord was transported to prison in a “Black Maria” prison vehicle.
“Blord run the group prison. Blord, go there… go there, just spend Easter. Blord go spend Easter for there,” he said in the video.
“We are escorting him now. As you can see, I am escorting Blord to Kuje Prison. We’re on the road to Kuje. Show them where Blord is, inside the Black Maria.”
The activist said he wanted to personally witness the businessman’s arrival at the correctional facility.
“I want to make sure that I see him enter inside that prison,” he said.
VeryDarkMan listed several actions he claimed Blord carried out without his authorisation, including using his photos on billboards to promote a business venture.
According to him, others include “editing his image into promotional materials for an app called ‘Viewpoints’ and claiming he endorsed it, forging a flight ticket suggesting he would attend a product launch in Onitsha and claiming publicly that N500 million had been paid to secure him as a brand ambassador”.
“This guy carried my picture without discussion, without agreement, nothing,” he said.
“First of all, he said I was his brand ambassador. Again, he used my face and edited it with his Viewpoints app and said that VeryDarkMan approved Viewpoints as the number one app, without my permission.”
VDM also claimed that some individuals had raised concerns about the app being promoted with his image.
“This same app, some persons are complaining that the app scammed them,” he alleged.
“And Blord said that I approved it. Not just that, he went to forge a fake flight ticket and posted it online saying I was coming to Onitsha to launch Bronze Gadget with him.”
According to him, the announcement caused confusion among his followers.
“Because of the way he posted it, a lot of people believed it was true. People started gathering in Onitsha thinking VeryDarkMan was coming, which was not true.”
