A Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja has struck out the defamation lawsuit filed by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, and his son, popular musician and activist Folarin Falana (known as Falz), against controversial social media personality Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM).
The father and son had initiated separate suits against VDM over a video posted on his social media platforms on September 24, 2024. In the viral video, VDM alleged that the Falanas received N10 million from controversial internet personality Idris Okuneye, also known as Bobrisky, to pervert the course of justice.
The Falanas described the claims as false, malicious, and damaging to their reputations, seeking N500 million each in damages. According to the claimants, the statements were made recklessly and without verification, and the defamatory content continued to harm them as long as it remained accessible online.
At Tuesday’s hearing, none of the parties were present in court. However, counsel representing VDM, Niyi Alagbe—holding brief for Marvin Omorogbe—informed the court of an application for a stay of proceedings, which had already been filed before Justice Fimisola Azeez, who is handling the substantive matter.
In response, counsel to the Falanas, Omotayo Olatunbosun, argued that the application was a delay tactic and urged the court to proceed with hearing a preliminary objection that was ready for consideration.
Justice Matthias Dawodu, however, noted that the application for stay was not in the court file and questioned the relevance of continuing with the matter when the main case was already before another judge. He described continuing with the present suit as an “academic exercise” and subsequently struck it out.
“Consequently, this suit is hereby struck out,” Justice Dawodu ruled.
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