An Ikeja High Court has set January 23, 2025 to hear the defamation lawsuit filed against the controversial online activist, Vincent Otse, also known as VeryDarkMan (VDM).
VDM is being sued for defamation by renowned lawyer, Femi Falana and his son, Folarin, popularly known as Falz.
When the case was summoned on Thursday, Muiz Banire, counsel for Messrs Falana and Falz, informed the court that the claimants had filed the originating procedure and served the parties.
Additionally, Mr. Banire stated that a notice motion was issued on October 25; however, Justice Matthias Dawodu stated that the court was not in possession of the original process.
However, the claimant’s counsel requested that the court defer the matter so that he could complete administrative processes.
“In this circumstance, my lord, 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,” Mr Banire said.
In response, VDM’s counsel, Marvin Omorogbe, stated that there was no legitimate writ of summons before the court.
He consequently petitioned the court to dismiss the complaint.
Mr Omorogbe stated that he was unaware of how the court’s registry would prepare any administrative processes.
He claimed that the previously filed writ was invalid since it was not presented to the court.
He said, “Preemptive remedy proceedings ends after injunction is granted or refused.
“They have gone ahead to file a writ, using the same suit number as the preemptive remedy proceedings.
“And the court said no, that a fresh writ of summons with a new suit number, needs to be filed.
“At this point my lord, we will be seeking for a date to hear our preliminary objection.”
Mr Omorogbe also asked the court to withdraw a motion dated October 18th.
He explained that the motion was a request for appeal, arguing that the claimants had conceded there was an issue regarding the preemptive proceedings.
However, Justice Dawodu dismissed the request after hearing no objections from the claimant’s lawyers.
“I will give you a date for hearing because we are talking about a writ that is not before the court,” Mr Dawodu said.
The judge then adjourned the case until January 23, 2025, for a hearing on preliminary objections.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the court deferred the sister case between Falz and VDM on the same grounds.
VDM was ordered by the court on October 14 to remove the allegedly defamatory video he made against the Falanas on September 24.
Mr Falana and his son filed an ex parte originating application against VDM’s activities, which resulted to the court’s order.
The court had ordered VDM to remove an unsubstantiated audio recording of a one-sided narrative by a cross-dresser named Bobrisky, alleging perversion of justice by Mr Falana and his son.
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