Defamation Suit: Mercy Chinwo’s case against VDM is complete joke — Deji Adeyanju
Mercy’s legal team are demanding N1 billion in damages from Verydarkman, N100 million as punishment, and N25 million for legal fees.
The legal battle between gospel singer Mercy Chinwo and social media activist Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), continues to escalate. VDM’s lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, describes the defamation lawsuit as “a complete joke.”
PREMIUM TIMES reported on 3 March that Mercy’s legal team filed a N1.1 billion defamation suit against VDM at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). They accused the online critic of making false and damaging statements online regarding her and her former manager, Ezekiel Onyedikachukwu, also known as EeZee Tee.
Reacting to the lawsuit on 6 March, Mr Adeyanju, who also serves as VDM’s legal counsel, ridiculed the claims in a post on X (formerly Twitter), stating that his client lacked the financial means to pay such an amount.
“I heard somebody sued VDM for N1.1 billion, and I laughed so hard. I know that VDM does not have N100k anywhere in the world to give to anyone. People will just be wasting their time for nothing,” he wrote.
During an appearance on AIT’s Kakaaki Social on Friday, Mr Adeyanju reiterated his stance, asserting that the lawsuit ‘held no weight.’
“Pay N1.1 billion for what? Over what? I don’t want to discuss this issue because this is not a court of law. And again, I don’t want to reveal our strategy to the other side. So, we have no comment. This is nothing serious. It’s just a complete joke,” the lawyer stated.
When asked about VDM’s potential arrest, Mr Adeyanju sarcastically responded, “Oh my God, we are so scared right now.”
Court arrest order
Mr Adeyanju’s comments come after the Chief Magistrate Court in Wuse Zone 6, Abuja, issued a bench warrant for VDM’s arrest on Thursday due to his failure to appear in court on 5 March.
Magistrate Emmanuel Iyanna ordered the police to arrest and present him (VDM) in court. Despite his lawyer’s plea for the warrant to be withdrawn, assuring that his client would appear, the magistrate insisted on its enforcement.
In response to the warrant, VeryDarkMan, in an Instagram post on Friday, claimed there was a plot to silence him but insisted the judiciary could not shut him down. “The judiciary cannot shut me down. There is a plan to silence me, but I will resist it.
“I will expose those paying for illegal orders and manipulating the system. How can one lawyer have six cases before the same magistrate on the same day? My lawyer told them I was out of the country, yet they still ordered my arrest,” the online activist lamented.
Judicial bias allegations
VDM accused the judiciary of bias after a Nyanya court in Abuja barred him from discussing Mercy and her former manager. He noted that he found it suspicious that the ruling coincided with his arrest warrant and dismissed the affidavit against him as weak.
“Why would another court give the same order on the same case? This judge was just promoted. Something is not right. No reasonable person would grant an order based on it,” he stated.
The social commentator also questioned why some judges were still issuing ex parte orders despite the National Judicial Council (NJC) banning them. “Why is this still happening? Are they trying to bypass the NJC’s directive?” he asked.
The critic claimed some judicial officers were influenced by outsiders and alleged a connection between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) prosecutor and Mercy’s husband. Despite the arrest warrant, VDM vowed to return to Nigeria, stay fearless, and fight for justice in a flawed case.
Background
The conflict between Mercy and her former manager, EeZee Tee, started after she left his record label, EeZee Conceptz. The singer accused him of keeping $345,000 in royalties and creating a toxic work environment. EeZee Tee denied this, claiming she broke their contract by keeping performance fees.
The EFCC got involved, detaining EeZee Tee and freezing his accounts, but later withdrew, saying it was a contract dispute, not a crime. Now, both sides are considering settling the matter out of court.
Mercy’s lawyers, led by Pelumi Olajengbesi, demand N1 billion in damages, N100 million as punishment, and N25 million for legal fees.
They also want VDM to retract his statements and apologise in four newspapers for 14 days, plus 10 per cent yearly interest on any court award until it is paid. Her legal team says VeryDarkMan falsely accused her of secretly taking show money and influencing EeZee Tee’s detention between 2 and 17 February. They call his claims baseless and harmful to her reputation.
