Falana, Falz give Bobrisky 12 hours to retract claim

Human rights lawyer Femi Falana and his singer son Falz have issued a 12-hour ultimatum to controversial crossdresser Idris ‘Bobrisky’ Okuneye to retract his defamatory declare in opposition to them.

In September, PREMIUM TIMES reported that Bobrisky, in an audio recording leaked by social media influencer, Martins ‘VeryDarkMan’ Otse, alleged that Mr Falana and Falz approached him about securing a presidential pardon for a charge of N10 million.

Within the preliminary leaked audio posted by VeryDarkMan on his Instagram web page, Bobrisky alleged that Falz reached out to him on behalf of his father to facilitate the presidential pardon.

Moreover, in a brand new audio VeryDarkMan leaked in October, Bobrisky alleged that his godfather paid N5 million to a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) to safe a presidential pardon for him.

Whereas Bobrisky had talked about Falz and his father within the first audio, he didn’t disclose the identify of the SAN who obtained the N5 million cost. Within the new audio, he alleged that the senior advocate submitted the pardon request to President Bola Tinubu on his behalf.

However in response, Mr Falana and his son denied ever contacting Bobrisky relating to a presidential pardon. Mr Falana emphasised that he has by no means charged for such companies, stating that his kids referred purchasers to him with out in search of any cost.

Nonetheless, in a brand new growth, Mr Falana and Falz, in a cease-and-desist letter issued via Falana and Falana’s Chamber, described Bobrisky’s allegations as baseless and damaging to their status. The cease-and-desist dated 14 October was signed by Olorunfemi Akinyemi and Taiwo E. Olawanle from the legislation agency.

Moreover, the authorized staff of the 66-year-old and his son demanded a retraction and an apology from Bobrisky, to be printed on all platforms the place the defamatory statements had been made.

They gave Bobrisky a 12-hour deadline to adjust to the request.

“We, due to this fact, demand the rapid retraction of the defamatory and derogatory statements in addition to an apology prominently aired or printed on all of the platforms to which you have got disseminated the offensive assertion with none justification in anyway.

“Be suggested that if we don’t obtain your formal retraction and apology as demanded inside 12 (twelve) hours of the receipt hereof, we will proceed with our shopper’s directions to hunt acceptable authorized cures, together with financial damages, in opposition to you in your incendiary defamatory statements. We hope that the salient points raised herein will urgently be addressed by you in your curiosity,” the letter learn partly.

Our shopper’s status

Extra so, the authorized staff described Bobrisky’s actions as an try to boost his wealth on the expense of Mr Falana and his son’s status.

They described the crossdresser’s choice to contain Mr Falana and Falz within the alleged prison enterprise as a mere figment of Bobrisky’s vivid creativeness.

Moreover, the authorized staff acknowledged that Bobrisky by no means instructed their shopper to draft a letter of pardon on his behalf.

“Particularly, you by no means spoke to our shopper or instructed him to write down a letter of pardon for you. Moreover, you didn’t make a partial cost of N5,000,000 (5 Million Naira) to our shopper and our shopper by no means knowledgeable you that he had submitted a letter of pardon in your behalf. You’ll agree with us that you just made all these defamatory statements in a reckless method while you knew that you just didn’t name our shopper on the cellphone to instruct him to write down a letter of pardon in your behalf.

“Our shopper has by no means spoken to you in your pardon or any topic in anyway.

Having regard to the truth that our shopper has secured pardon for not lower than 300 Nigerians convicted by army and civilian courts in Nigeria, Libya, Thailand and The Gambia on a professional bono foundation, your defamatory statements have severely broken his status at residence and overseas,” the letter learn.

Background

The cease-and-desist order by Mr Falana and Falz was issued the identical day the Lagos State Excessive Court docket ordered VeryDarkMan (VDM) to take away defamatory feedback and movies directed at Mr Falana and his son inside twenty-one days.

This newspaper reported that the choose, M.O. Dawodu, delivered the ruling on Monday in response to Mr Falana’s preliminary utility in search of pre-emptive measures to stop additional defamation by VeryDarkMan.

The courtroom instructed VeryDarkMan to delete and stop the publication or circulation of the defamatory video and feedback first disseminated on 24 September through his social media platforms relating to Mr Falana and Falz.

This newspaper reported that the allegations additionally included claims of a N15 million bribe allegedly obtained by officers of the Financial and Monetary Crimes Fee (EFCC) to drop cash laundering fees in opposition to Bobrisky.

The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) was alleged to have obtained bribes to place Bobrisky in VIP custody reasonably than in a daily jail area. These allegations sparked intense public debate and investigations by the EFCC, NCoS, and the Home of Representatives.

In April, this newspaper reported that the EFCC arrested Bobrisky on six counts of cash laundering and abuse of the naira.

Throughout his trial on the Federal Excessive Court docket in Lagos, the trial choose, Abimbola Awogboro, dismissed the cash laundering fees (counts 5 and 6) on the EFCC’s request. However the choose sentenced Bobrisky to 6 months in jail for Naira abuse.

The choose imposed a six-month jail time period with out the choice of a advantageous, noting that the sentence would function a deterrent to others who have interaction in Naira mutilation.

Bobrisky started serving his sentence on March 24 and was subsequently launched from the Kirikiri Correctional Centre on 5 August.