A Chief Magistrate Court, Wuse, on Thursday, issued a bench warrant for the arrest of social media influencer and activist, Martins Otse, also known as VeryDarkMan, for alleged defamation of renowned female gospel singer, Mercy Chinwo.
Magistrate Emmanuel Iyana, in his ruling, ordered the Nigeria Police Force and other law enforcement agencies to arrest VDM and produce him before the court to answer to the allegations levelled against him by the gospel singer.
The court held that having failed to honour a summons issued against him on March 5, he should be arrested and made to appear in court.
The magistrate dismissed a plea by his counsel, Deji Adeyanju, to personally produce his client on the next adjourned date.
Chinwo had accused VeryDarkMan of making a libellous statement against her in several posts shared via his social media platforms in February, accusing her of breaching her contract with her former record label, owned by Ezekiel Onyedikachukwu.
VDM had alleged that Chinwo diverted funds from shows without paying the label in violation of her contract terms with the label.
Chinwo, in the lawsuit dated March 3, and filed by her lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi, said VDM’s comments were “malicious, and damaging” to the! her reputation.
Olajengbesi said that VDM, though not involved in the dispute between Chinwo and EeZee Tee, decided to deliberately present the matter in a way that has now tarnished the singer’s image.
He accused VDM of posting several viral videos on the matter to the reach of millions of followers, to ridicule Chinwo, while favouring EeZee Tee’s side in the dispute.
He stated, “The Claimant avers that she has neither had any form of relationship with the Defendant nor was the Defendant involved in the issue between the Claimant and Mr. EeZee T in any material particular.
“The Claimant avers that the statements which the Defendant made in the videos he published on his Instagram page were as though the Defendant was personally involved in the issues between the Claimant and Mr. EeZee T; however, these statements were not only false but damning and injurious to the Claimant’s public image and reputation.”
The lawyer is seeking a court order directing VDM to remove the defamatory posts from all his social media platforms.
“An order of this Honourable Court directing the Defendant to cause a retraction of the said defamatory statement in favour of the Claimant on all his social media platforms and to publish an unreserved apology to the Claimant in two widely circulated national dailies and all his social media platforms,” he also demanded.
Olajengbesi further prayed the court to order VDM to pay N1bn as general damages for defamation, N100m as punitive and aggravated damages, N25m as the cost of the suit and 10% interest on the judgment sum per annum until full payment.
He also requested that VDM publish the apology in four national dailies for at least 14 consecutive days.
It would be recalled that Chinwo accused EeZee Tee of exploitation, threats to life and spreading false rumours about her child’s paternity.
In a video shared on Instagram, Chinwo claimed that he threatened her safety and forced her to relocate from Lagos to Port Harcourt in Rivers State.
