A rights activist, Martin Otse, otherwise known as ‘Verydarkman (VDM)’ has accused Gloria Diri, wife of Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State, of failing to fulfil her promise to offer scholarship to Nancy Wilfred, a small business owner assaulted last year in the state.
VDM disclosed this in a video clip uploaded on his Facebook page on Thursday.
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Backstory
Recall that Nancy, a 19-year-old girl from Imo State, was assaulted, stripped and humiliated by a group of four girls in Bayelsa State on 29 August 2025.
One of the girls filmed the attack and later uploaded it on social media which triggered public outrage.
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Mrs Diri, on 3 September last year, took custody of Nancy and offered her a scholarship to university level.
The First Lady was also said to have promised to ensure justice for the assaulted girl.
The four girls were consequently arrested and arraigned before a magistrate court in Bayelsa.
However, the girls were later granted bail by the court with some alleging that the bail was granted because one of the defendants was a daughter to a top politician in the south-south state.
Sources said Nancy later obtained a Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) Form, preparatory for her enrolment into a university in response to the scholarship offer, but the Bayelsa First Lady allegedly failed to respond to the girl’s calls thereafter.
Nancy was seen in a Facebook video clip uploaded on 14 March confirming that she was only given N5,000 while her mother received N10,000 from the Gender Response Initiative Team (GRIT) in Government House, Yenagoa.
She recalled that after she and her mother left Bayelsa State for Delta State, the GRIT team, which works under the Bayelsa First Lady, refused to respond to their calls.
Livinus Nwosu, another activist who reportedly rescued Nancy from the assault, then made a post on Facebook on 13 March, criticising Mrs Diri for allegedly failing to keep her promise of assisting the victim and ensuring justice for the assaulted girl.
“To the wife of Bayelsa state governor, with all due respect ma, I regret trusting you in this Nancy’s case; I regret believing that you will get justice for this girl; I regret ever wasting my precious time to come see you at the Government House on account of this matter.
“The wife of Bayelsa state governor promised to help this child but since then only N10, 000 was given to this child’s mother through the team the governor’s wife provided to help battle the case,” Mr Nwosu said in the Facebook post.
He also accused Mrs Diri of failing to replace the victim’s mobile phone that was damaged during the assault, despite repeated appeals to the First Lady and her GRIT team.
After the post, he was invited by the police in Bayelsa.
Mrs Diri subsequently initiated a lawsuit against Mr Nwosu for alleged defamation and cyberbullying, accusing him of using the situation to malign her reputation and potentially extort sympathisers.
PREMIUM TIMES learnt that a magistrate court, on 24 March, ordered Mr Nwosu to be remanded for 30 days at the Okaka Correctional Centre.
His supporters have, however, been protesting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa, calling for his immediate release.
‘No scholarship, no justice’
In Thursday’s Facebook post, VDM said Mrs Diri neither fulfilled her promise of offering scholarships to Nancy nor justice for her.
He claimed the First Lady only arrested Mr Nwosu and charged him to court for holding her to account.
“That was why they arrested Livinus. You (Mrs Diri) promised to give this girl justice. They assaulted the girl. You came out as the First Lady, people hailed you, not knowing you were chasing clout.
“The young man (Livinus) that brought the girl to the Government House, he saw everything and was disappointed,” he said.
The activist accused her of being “very irresponsible” and “lacking accountability.”
VDM then phoned a woman whom he claimed to be Nancy and informed her that she would withdraw the court case against the defendants who allegedly assaulted her, explaining that the decision was based on his understanding that she would not get justice if she continued.
He also asked her to stop calling Mrs Diri for the scholarship and that he (VDM) would pay her school fees.
She then informed VDM that she would write her UTME in April.
“Let me know (when you get admission). And also if you’re broke, call me. Even if I don’t have money, I’ll take care of you. Don’t call the First Lady again. If they call you, don’t pick-up,” he told the girl.
First Lady speaks
In response, Mrs Diri has denied the allegation of failing to fulfil her promises of a scholarship to the assaulted girl.
In a statement by her Press Secretary, Maria Olodi-Osumah on 24 March, the First Lady argued that she had a genuine interest in Nancy’s case to get medical support and justice for her.
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She explained that she indeed offered scholarship to Nancy, but she rejected it and then requested “for huge sums of money” to start a business.
“It was later found out that Nancy was never admitted in University of Port Harcourt as earlier claimed, hence, the scholarship could not take off immediately.
“Weeks after the arraignment of the alleged assaulters in the Magistrate Court, Nancy and her mother, Ms Silvia Ajimokoye, reportedly settled for an out of court settlement with the families of the assaulters to the tune of N10 million as compensation. Sadly, the money never came,” she stated.
“Nancy was never abandoned as claimed. Rather, after the first adjournment, she and her mother never reached out to the GRIT again.”
Mrs Diri also denied giving Nancy and her mother N15,000, explaining that the GRIT team only offered them the money “as transport fare with a promise for further support in the next meeting date which never held.”
The First Lady also denied claims that she influenced Mr Nwosu’s remand in prison, explaining that she does not wield “such powers as to direct” the court processes.
“So, the ongoing litigation should be allowed to follow through.
“The onus is on Mr Nwosu to go and defend allegations against him and not resort to cheap blackmail through the social media,” she stated.
