Investigative journalist, Kemi Olunloyo has reacted to the court judgement asking social media commentator, Martin Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan to delete the defamatory comments and videos he made about prominent lawyer and human rights advocate Femi Falana (SAN), and his musician son, Folarin Falana, popularly known as Falz.... CLICK TO READ THE FULL NEWS HERE▶▶
In a post on Instagram, Kemi encouraged Nigerians to continue to spread the videos stressing that no judge must cover corruption by taking any citizen’s constitutional right.
She wrote: “Gag Orders: N500M or not, Continue to spread VDM’s voice by sharing his videos. No judge must cover corruption by taking any citizen’s constitutional right. We used SM to #EndSars and we will also use it to end judiciary corruption. Bobrisky and the Falanas must be exposed”
Apart from deleting the posts, VeryDarkMan was also asked to pay the plaintiff 500 million naira in damages in the ruling in suit no: ID/8584/GCM/2024), on Monday, October 15, 2024.
The ruing was delivered by Justice M. O. Idowu. The court’s decision followed a series of posts made by Otse on September 24, 2024, in which he linked the Falanas to the bribery allegation involving controversial cross dresser, Idris Okuneye better known as Bobrisky, officials of the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigerian Correctional Service.
Justice Idowu stated that the comments were “defamatory and injurious” to Falana and his son’s public reputations.
According to the applicants, the court noted, “the defendant knew these statements were false and untrue but proceeded to publish them to injure their reputation.”
Falana and Falz argued that the claims had no basis in truth and were created to tarnish their standing.
Dawodu, speaking for the applicants, noted that VeryDarkMan’s allegations remained highly visible on his social media platforms, thereby “continuing the injury to their reputation as long as the publication remains online.” The judgment emphasised the need for the prompt removal of defamatory posts to prevent further reputational harm, making this a landmark ruling in Nigeria’s fight against online defamation.… CLICK TO READ THE FULL NEWS HERE▶▶
