Lagos Court Adjourns Femi Falana And Falz’s N1 Billion Defamation Suit Against VeryDarkMan To January 23

Justice Matthias Dawodu of the Lagos State High Court has adjourned the defamation suit filed by human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) and his son, Folarin, popularly known as Falz, against social media influencer Martins Otse, also known as Verydarkblackman, to January 23, 2025. The adjournment will allow the parties to file and regularize necessary court processes after the judge discovered that critical documents were missing from the court’s file.

The Falanas are seeking N500 million each in damages over a video posted by VeryDarkMan on his social media platforms. The video alleged that the father and son collected N10 million from Idris Okuneye, a.k.a. Bobrisky, to manipulate the course of justice. Justice Dawodu had previously ordered the removal of the defamatory video and issued an injunction restraining the defendant from publishing further defamatory content pending the hearing of the suit.

At the hearing on Wednesday, Dr. Muiz Banire (SAN), counsel to the claimants, informed the court that originating processes and a motion on notice had been filed and served on the defendant. However, Justice Dawodu noted that the originating process was not before the court. Banire requested an adjournment to complete filing administrative processes, stating, “The best thing to do is to adjourn the matter so that we can go back to the registry to file all the administrative processes.”

Counsel for the defendant, Marvin Omorogbe, argued that there was no valid writ of summons before the court, claiming it bore the same suit number as previous proceedings. He also requested to withdraw a motion filed on October 18 seeking leave to appeal the injunction granted in the case. Justice Dawodu struck out the motion, noting no objections from the claimants.

In their suit, the Falanas contend that the defendant knowingly published false and unverified information, causing significant harm to their reputation. They claim the defamatory publication continues to trend online, exacerbating the damage.

According to the claimants, the video falsely accused Femi Falana of soliciting N10 million from Bobrisky in exchange for a presidential pardon, a claim they described as baseless and reckless.

The Falanas are seeking several reliefs, including:

A declaration that the publication made on September 24, 2024, on the defendant’s Instagram handle, @verydarkblackman, is defamatory, slanderous, and derogatory.
N500 million in damages for character defamation.
An order of perpetual injunction preventing further publication of defamatory content.
A public apology from the defendant on all social media platforms and in a national daily newspaper.

The case has been adjourned to January 23, 2025, for the hearing of preliminary objections.