IKEJA, Nigeria – An Ikeja High Court has struck out a defamation suit filed against Instagram celebrity Martins Otse, also known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), by human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) and his son, Folarin, popularly known as Falz.
The defamation case stemmed from an audio recording made by cross-dresser Bobrisky, who accused Falana and his son of perverting justice.
The claimants sought N500 million each in damages over a video posted by VDM on his social media platforms.
When the case was called on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, neither Falana, his son, nor VDM were present in court.
However, VeryDarkMan’s counsel, Mr. Niyi Alagbe, who was standing in for Mr. Marvin Omorogbe, informed the court that he had filed an application for a stay of proceedings before Justice Fimisola Azeez.
In response, Mr. Omotayo Olatunbosun, counsel to the Falanas, informed the court that he had only received the application the previous day at around 4:15 p.m.
Olatunbosun argued that the preliminary objection, which he said was ready for hearing, should take precedence and that the new application appeared to be a tactic to delay the proceedings.
Justice Matthias Dawodu, presiding over the case, pointed out that the application for a stay was not in the case file and questioned why the matter was being brought before him when the substantive suit was already before another judge.
Justice Dawodu then ruled that insisting on proceeding with the suit would be an academic exercise, given that the main case was before a different court.
Consequently, he struck out the defamation suit, effectively bringing an end to the legal proceedings for the time being.
