A Lagos High Court in Ikeja has ordered social media personality Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), to pay ₦200,000 after dismissing his preliminary objection to a ₦1 billion defamation lawsuit filed by renowned human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) and his son, rapper Folarin Falana, also known as Falz.
Justice Fimisola Azeez ruled that VDM’s objections lacked merit and awarded ₦100,000 each in favour of Femi and Falz. The court also directed VDM to promptly file his defence in the main suit.
The case stems from a video posted by VDM on Instagram on September 24, 2024, which the Falanas claim contained defamatory and damaging statements against them. Each claimant is demanding ₦500 million in damages
While Falz was present in court, his father was represented by legal counsel Ernest Olawanle and Femi Akinyemi.
VDM was absent but represented by his lawyer, Marvin Omorogbe.
The Falanas allege that the video in question contained libellous and scandalous material and are asking the court to declare the video defamatory, issue a perpetual injunction restraining VDM from publishing similar content, and order him to issue a public apology both on social media and in a national newspaper.
VDM had attempted to have the case dismissed on the grounds of jurisdiction, arguing that the alleged incident occurred outside Lagos State.
However, the court sided with the Falanas, rejecting the objection and instructing VDM to respond to the defamation claim.
The matter has been adjourned to July 8 for further proceedings.
This development follows an earlier decision by Justice Mathias Dawodu, who on April 15 struck out a related pre-emptive suit by the Falanas, deeming it academic in light of the current proceedings before Justice Azeez.
