Falana, VeryDarkMan defamation case suffers setback in court

Femi Falana

The defamation case brought by senior advocate of Nigeria Femi Falana and his son Folarin (popularly known as Falz), against social media influencer Vincent Otse (also known as VeryDarkMan or VDM) has been adjourned until January 23 as proceedings could not continue due to pending applications not yet filed in court records.

VeryDarkMan, who arrived at the Lagos High Court in Ikeja at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday wearing red native attire and accompanied by cheering fans, appeared in court without the Falanas, who were absent from the session.

On October 14, Justice Matthias Dawodu ruled on an ex-parte application filed by the Falanas, ordering VDM to remove an alleged defamatory video made on September 24 against the SAN and his son.

The judge also barred VDM from releasing, publishing, or circulating any further defamatory content about the Falanas until the case is resolved.

Furthermore, the court directed that VDM be served all court documents through his lawyer, Deji Adeyanju.

The Falanas are seeking N500 million each in damages, alleging that VDM posted a video falsely claiming they accepted N10 million from crossdresser Idris Okuneye, also known as Bobrisky, to obstruct justice.

They argue that VDM knowingly published unverified information, damaging their reputations and assert that the defamatory video continues to harm them as long as it remains online.

In response, VDM filed for leave to appeal the ruling, asserting that a refusal would result in a miscarriage of justice, as the case raises significant legal questions worthy of further review.