Social Media Influencer Apologizes to Femi Falana for Defamatory Remarks

Social media personality Martins Otse, widely recognized by his online alias VeryDarkMan, has issued a public apology to esteemed human rights lawyer Femi Falana, SAN. This follows Otse’s previous defamatory statements directed towards the senior advocate.

The issue stemmed from a viral audio recording in which Otse alleged that Bobrisky, a well-known public figure, had claimed some officers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) extorted N15 million from him in exchange for dropping money laundering charges. Otse further claimed that Falana sought a presidential pardon for Bobrisky for a price of N10 million.

Femi Falana’s legal team has categorically denied these claims, asserting that Falana never communicated with Bobrisky regarding any such pardon. “The claims are entirely false and misleading,” Falana’s representatives stated in response to the accusations.

During a session before the House of Representatives Joint Committee on Financial Crimes and Reformatory Institutions on Monday, VeryDarkMan retracted his statements and apologized to Falana. He expressed disbelief at the accusation himself, stating that he found it hard to accept that Falana would be involved in such activities.

“Apparently, now, some people are taking advantage of what is going on to target Femi Falana,” Otse stated. He clarified that his statements were not meant to defame Falana but called for a comprehensive investigation into the alleged bribery incident involving Bobrisky and EFCC officials.

“Here, I apologize. It’s so sad that his name was inside that audio. I couldn’t believe, as well; that is the part that irritated me more when I said I refuse to believe that he is a party to something like that,” Otse publicly declared during the committee meeting.