A bench warrant for the arrest of social media activist and influencer Martins Vincent Otse, also known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), has been issued by a Chief Magistrate Court in Wuse for the alleged defamation of well-known gospel singer Mercy Chinwo.
The decision was issued on Thursday by Magistrate Emmanuel Iyana, who ordered the Nigeria Police Force and other law enforcement organisations to detain VDM and bring him to court so he could face the accusations made against him by the gospel artist. The court’s ruling comes after VDM disregarded a summons to appear in court that was sent out on March 5.
VDM’s attorney, Deji Adeyanju, made a plea to allow his client to attend the upcoming hearing in person, but Magistrate Iyana rejected it.
In her March 3 lawsuit, Mercy Chinwo claimed that VDM had made false accusations against her in multiple posts that were circulated on his social media accounts in February, BrandSpur Nigeria news reports.
According to the tweets, she allegedly broke her agreement with her previous record label, which was controlled by Ezekiel Onyedikachukwu, by taking money from performances and failing to pay the company as stipulated in the contract.
According to Pelumi Olajengbesi, Chinwo’s attorney, VDM’s accusations were “malicious and damaging” to the singer’s reputation. Despite not being a party to the conflict between Chinwo and the record company, Olajengbesi said that VDM handled the situation in a way that damaged the singer’s reputation.
Chinwo’s attorney went on to say: “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 Tee in any material particular. The statements made by the Defendant in his viral videos were false, damning, and injurious to the Claimant’s public image.”
Chinwo is requesting a court order compelling VDM to take down the offensive posts from all of his social media accounts, as well as a retraction and an unconditional apology from VDM on all of his social media accounts and in two nationally distributed newspapers. In addition, Chinwo is requesting N1 billion in general damages for defamation, N100 million in punitive and aggravated damages, N25 million for the suit’s expenses, and 10% interest on the judgment amount until it is paid in full. She also demands that the apology be published in four national dailies for a minimum of 14 continuous days.
However, this case follows an earlier issue where Chinwo accused her previous label owner, EeZee Tee, of exploitation, threats to her safety, and spreading false rumours about the paternity of her child. In an Instagram video, Chinwo claimed that EeZee Tee had threatened her safety, causing her to migrate from Lagos to Port Harcourt.
