VDM In Fresh Trouble For Defaming Falana, Falz Over Allegations Of Taking Bribe 

By Joseph Sunday 

Popular Nigerian Social Media Influencer, VeryDarkMan whose original name is  Martins Vincent Otse is now seems to be in fresh trouble for Defaming Barrister Femi Falana, SAN, a frontline Human Rights Activist in the Country and beyond, and his Son, Folarin Falana, popularly known as Falz over allegations of collecting bribe from the controversial social media personality, Idris Okuneye, also known as Bobrisky when she was sent to prison custody for abusing the naira notes. 

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VeryDarkMan, Martins Vincent Otse on a recent post on his Facebook wall, had alleged that Idris Okuneye leaked an audio where she revealed she gave Femi Falana and son, Falz a sum of N10 million, another N15 million to the EFCC officials and N3 million to the Nigeria Prison Officials to put her in the VIP section of the Nigerian Correctional facility. 

This clarification comes on Wednesday after Falana’s legal team, Falana & Falana Chambers, issued a letter to Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, demanding the retraction of defamatory statements made against Falz.

According to the letter, the controversial social media post suggested that Falz had conspired with Bobrisky to “pervert the course of justice” by assisting him financially to secure a favourable outcome for his legal troubles.

In the letter dated September 26, 2024, Falz’s lawyer, Taiwo E. Olawanle, outlined the sequence of events, explaining that while Bobrisky had indeed reached out to Falz for advice, Falz firmly rejected the notion of providing financial assistance, insisting that no payments were necessary.

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The letter read, “Your publication of September 25, 2024, on your Instagram page captioned “In everything and everyone that is mentioned here, I will be disappointed if truly FALZ and his father are involved in this whole Bobrisky issue…” has been drawn to our notice wherein you made some defamatory statements against our client.

“To set the records straight, our client never at any point initiated a conversation with Mr Idris Okuneye. Our client has documentary evidence that Mr. Idris was in fact the one who initiated a call.

“Specifically, on the 4th of May 2024, Mr Idris Okuneye (AKA Bobrisky) contacted our client requesting a phone conversation with him. Our client gratuitously obliged, having knowledge of the Naira abuse charges leveled against him, and genuinely believing he might require legal advice.

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“Mr Idris Okuneye (Aka Bobrisky) called shortly after but instead of soliciting legal advice, stated that he was in distress and needed financial assistance of about N3,000,000 (Three million Naira) which he claimed he needed to pay some officials to be permitted to stay in the VIP section of the Correctional Centre.”

The letter added, “Our client, in the same conversation, advised him that there was no need to pay the officials of the Correctional Centre any money. However, Mr Idris Okuneye (Aka Bobrisky) stated that his lawyers had messed up his case by asking him to plead guilty to the charges filed against him. Mr Idris Okuneye (Aka Bobrisky) insisted on his request for the money which our client continuously disapproved.

“Without contacting our client, you went ahead to publish a careless statement containing multiple allegations including an insinuation that our client is involved in a homosexual affair and intended to get a presidential pardon for Mr Idris Okuneye.”

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Falana & Falana Chambers demanded an immediate retraction of the defamatory statements and a public apology to be issued across all platforms where the accusations were disseminated. The letter warned that failure to comply within 24 hours would result in legal action, including a claim for monetary damages for the harm caused to Falz’s reputation.

A viral video shared by VeryDarkMan revealed Bobrisky’s allegation that unnamed EFCC officers collected N15 million from him to drop money laundering charges.

Bobrisky has, however, denied the bribery allegations. The EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, also ordered an immediate investigation into the matter.

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