Justice M. O. Dawodu of the Lagos State High Court has ruled in favor of lawyer and human rights activist Femi Falana (SAN) and his son, Folarin, in a defamation case against social media critic Martin Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan.
The court ordered VeryDarkMan to remove defamatory comments and videos linking Bobrisky to Falz and his father, which were published on September 24, 2024. Justice Dawodu stated that these publications were “false and untrue” and intended to “injure their reputation”.
According to the court documents, VeryDarkMan knew the statements were false but still published them, causing ongoing harm to the Falanas’ reputation. The court restrained VeryDarkMan, his agents, and privies from further publishing defamatory content about the Falanas.
*Key Rulings:*
– _Removal of Defamatory Content:_ VeryDarkMan must remove the defamatory video and comments from all his online social media handles/pages.
– _Pre-Action Protocol:_ The applicants (Falz and Falana) must file and serve Pre-Action Bundles, Originating Processes, and other accompanying processes on the defendant within 14 days.
– _Substituted Service:_ Leave is granted to serve court processes on VeryDarkMan through his lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, Esq.
VeryDarkMan had previously apologized to Femi Falana, stating that he didn’t believe Falana was involved in the alleged bribery scheme ¹. However, this apology was not enough to prevent the court’s ruling.
The case highlights the importance of responsible social media usage and the consequences of spreading false information.
