Social media personality Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, has denied allegations of defamation against prominent human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN).
In a video posted to his Instagram account, VeryDarkMan said he has a deep respect for Falana, whom he referred to as his uncle while addressing the accusations.
The controversy arose after Nigerian rapper Falz threatened legal action against VeryDarkMan.
The social media critic had earlier mentioned Falz and his father, Femi Falana, in connection with a voice recording linked to a bribery scandal involving crossdresser Bobrisky and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
VeryDarkMan’s lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, responded to the defamation claims, clarifying that his client merely questioned the validity of Bobrisky’s allegations in the leaked audio and had no intention of defaming Femi Falana.
In a statement, Adeyanju explained: “Our client denies defaming Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, a globally recognized human rights activist. He only shared the communication to urge relevant agencies and your client to thoroughly investigate the serious allegations made by Mr. Okuneye Idris Olarenwaju (Bobrisky) in the voice recording.”
Adeyanju stressed that the focus should be on investigating the bribery claims made by Bobrisky against certain EFCC officers, rather than pursuing a defamation case against VeryDarkMan.
He said his client holds Femi Falana’s contributions to human rights in Nigeria in high regard.
In a Facebook post, Adeyanju further suggested that Falz should direct his attention towards Bobrisky, pointing out that Falz had admitted to a phone call with Bobrisky.
“For Falz: he should go and meet Bob about everything he/she said. Falz even admitted to having a phone call with Bob. End of discussion,” Adeyanju wrote.
