The Chief Magistrate Court, Wuse Zone 6, has summoned blogger Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), for “criminal defamation” of the reputation of gospel singer, Mercy Chinwo.
In the court summons dated March 5, 2025, Chief Magistrate Emmanuel Iyanna ordered the defendant, VDM, to appear in person before the court on March 13, 2025, to answer the charges levelled against them by the complainant, Chinwo.
The criminal summons stemmed from alleged defamatory statements made by VDM on social media, accusing Chinwo of involvement in a contractual dispute and the purported diversion of $345,000 linked to her former record label boss, Ezekiel Onyedikachukwu, also known as Eezee Tee.
In support of her claims, Chinwo furnished the court with documentary evidence, including emails and payment receipts, to substantiate that VDM’s allegations were not only entirely false but damning and injurious to her public image and reputation.
In the criminal complaint filed by the complainant’s lawyers led by Pelumi Olajengbesi of Abuja-based law firm, Law Corridor, Chinwo said the alleged actions of the defendant are contrary to Sections 391 of the Penal Code and Section 24 (1)(B) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention etc) Act 2015.
Magistrate Emmanuel Iyanna thereafter directed VDM to appear before the court on March 13, 2025, to answer the charges.
Recall that Chinwo’s counsel also dragged VDM before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, seeking N1.1bn damages against the blogger.
The lawyer sought an order compelling VDM to delete, retract, and issue a public apology for all allegedly false and defamatory statements made against Chinwo and her brand.
On February 17, 2025, a Federal High Court in Lagos held that the arrest warrant against Ee Zee Tee over alleged fraudulent conversion subsists and adjourned the case until March 6, 2025 for the arraignment of the record label boss.
In the defamation suit, Olajengbesi said VDM made the posts without provocation and with the apparent intention of lowering Chinwo’s estimation in the eyes of right-thinking members of the society.
Chinwo furnished the court with all documents and evidence to establish that all that VeryDarkMan had been saying were false.
He told the court that the VDM’s videos and posts were false and had caused significant harm to Chinwo’s public image, reputation, professional standing, and emotional well-being.
The lawyer said VDM made the posts on his Instagram handle on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 12th, and 17th of February 2025 accusing Chinwo of “going behind the record label to go and collect shows, she was collecting gigs and she was not remitting money to the record label”.
