An Ikeja High Court on Tuesday struck out the defamation suit filed by renowned human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), and his son, popular musician and actor, Folarin Falana, also known as Falz, against popular activist and social media influencer Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkBlackMan (VDM).
The father and son duo had instituted the suit following a viral audio recording made by controversial cross-dresser Bobrisky, which accused them of perverting the course of justice. In response, VDM shared a video on his social media platforms echoing the claims, prompting the Falanas to demand N500 million each as damages.
When the matter was called up in court on Tuesday, all parties – Falana, Falz, and VDM – were absent. However, counsel to the respondent, Mr. Niyi Alagbe, appearing on behalf of Mr. Marvin Omorogbe, informed the court that an application for stay of proceedings had earlier been filed before Justice Fimisola Azeez.
In response, counsel to the Falanas, Mr. Omotayo Olatunbosun, acknowledged receipt of the application at about 4:15 p.m. on Monday. He urged the court to proceed with the business of the day, describing the fresh application as a tactic to stall proceedings.
Justice Matthias Dawodu, who presided over the matter, noted that the application in question was not in the court’s file and expressed concern over being made to handle a matter whose substantive suit was already before another judge.
The judge ruled that continuing with the suit would amount to an academic exercise and accordingly struck it out.
“Consequently, this suit is hereby struck out,” Justice Dawodu declared.
