On Thursday, an Ikeja High Court set January 23 for the hearing of a defamation case filed against Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), a controversial online activist. The lawsuit was brought by Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) and his son, Folarin, also known as Falz.
When the case was called, Mr. Muiz Banire (SAN), representing Falana and Falz, informed the court that the originating process had been filed and served. However, Justice Matthias Dawodu noted that the originating process was not before the court. Banire requested an adjournment to allow time for filing administrative processes.
In response, Mr. Marvin Omorogbe, counsel for VeryDarkMan, argued that there was no valid writ of summons on record and requested that the suit be struck out. He pointed out that the existing writ shared the same suit number as the earlier preemptive remedy proceedings, which required a separate writ and new suit number. Omorogbe also asked for a date to address a preliminary objection.
Additionally, Omorogbe withdrew a motion dated October 18, which aimed to appeal based on issues with the preemptive proceedings. With no objections, Justice Dawodu struck out the motion, stating, “I will give you a date for hearing because we are talking about a writ that is not before the court.”
The court subsequently adjourned the case to January 23, 2025, for hearing of preliminary objections. It also postponed a related case involving Falz and VDM for the same reasons.
Previously, on October 14, the court had ordered VeryDarkMan to remove an allegedly defamatory video posted on September 24 against the Falanas. This decision followed an ex parte application by the Falanas, which also sought the removal of an unverified audio recording featuring claims by cross-dresser Bobrisky, accusing the Falanas of judicial misconduct.
