A Lagos High Court has dismissed the preliminary objections by VeryDarkMan (VDM) in the N1 billion defamation suit filed against him by Femi Falana, SAN, and his son, Falz. Justice F. Afeez recently directed the defendant to immediately file his defence in the suit.
According to reports, while ruling on the objection on Tuesday, May 20, Justice Azeez revealed that the application lacked merit, and consequently, awarded the cost of N200,000 against VDM, N100,000 each in favour of Femi and Folarin Falana.
At the hearing, Falz was present in court, Femi Falana was represented by his lawyers, Ernest Olawanle and Femi Akinyemi, his son, while an absent VDM was represented by his counsel, Marvin Omorogbe.
In their suits, the claimants are alleging that VeryDarkMan made libellous, scandalous and defamatory remarks targeting them in a viral video, and his false declaration should be declared defamatory.
The Falana family have also asked the court to issue a perpetual injunction restraining VDM, his agents, or any of his associates from making or distributing identical statements in the future.
Femi Falana and Falz are seeking redress over a video published by VDM on his Instagram page on September 24, 2024.
According to them, the clip was extremely injurious to their reputation, hence their decision to each claim N500 million in damages, bringing the total claim to N1 billion.
