VeryDarkMan Warns Organisers Against Bringing Tyla to Nigeria
VeryDarkMan warned show organisers not to bring Tyla to Nigeria and threatened to disrupt her concert if they proceed.
By Godwin Adejor ·
Social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), has issued a strong warning to show organisers and promoters planning to bring South African singer Tyla to Nigeria, declaring that her planned Lagos concert will not go ahead.
In a video shared on his social media platforms on Thursday, 30 July 2026, VDM stated that the event—scheduled as part of Tyla’s A*POP World Tour for 22 December 2026 in Lagos—must be cancelled. He linked his opposition to ongoing concerns over xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in South Africa and the legal challenges facing Nigerian-born beauty queen Chidimma Adetshina in South African courts.
“There will be no Tyla show in Nigeria. It is not happening. This is a message to the show organisers and the show promoters that are bringing Tyla into Nigeria that that show is not happening,” VDM said. “Not when Chidimma Adetshina is battling deportation in a South African court and you want to allow Tyla to make money off Nigerians through her show—the same Nigerians that are going through xenophobic attacks.”
He further warned that if the concert proceeds, he and members of his Ratel Movement would intervene: “If you continue with the show, we will come there and we will bring it down. We don’t care what will happen. We don’t want Tyla.” VDM also argued that Nigeria already has talented female artists such as Ayra Starr and questioned the need to host the South African star.
VDM’s comments come amid wider online calls for a boycott of Tyla’s Lagos performance. Some Nigerians have pointed to recent violence against Nigerians in South Africa and accused the singer of remaining silent on the issue. Others have defended the idea of separating music from politics, noting Tyla’s past support for Nigerian causes such as EndSARS.
As of the latest reports, neither Tyla nor the concert organisers had publicly responded to VDM’s statements or the growing boycott campaign. The development has intensified debates about African solidarity, the impact of xenophobia on cross-border cultural exchanges, and whether artists should be held accountable for broader societal tensions between nations.