A Chief Magistrate’s Court in Wuse Zone 6, Abuja, has summoned controversial social media critic, Martin Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, over alleged criminal defamation of gospel singer Mercy Chinwo.
The court, in a summons dated March 5, 2025, ordered VeryDarkMan to appear in person on March 13, 2025, to respond to allegations brought against him by Chinwo.
Chief Magistrate Emmanuel Iyanna issued the directive following claims that the outspoken social critic made damaging statements about the singer on social media.
The dispute stems from VeryDarkMan’s online posts, where he accused Chinwo of misappropriating $345,000 allegedly linked to her former record label boss, Ezekiel Onyedikachukwu, also known as Eezee Tee.
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The singer, however, dismissed the claims as false, providing emails, receipts, and other documents to counter the allegations.
In the criminal complaint filed by her legal team, led by Pelumi Olajengbesi of Law Corridor, Chinwo argued that VDM’s actions violated Sections 391 of the Penal Code and Section 24(1)(B) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015.
Aside from the criminal charges, Chinwo has also filed a N1.1 billion defamation lawsuit against the blogger at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The lawsuit seeks an order compelling VDM to delete all alleged defamatory posts, issue a public apology, and retract his statements.
Meanwhile, a separate case involving Eezee Tee remains before the Federal High Court in Lagos.
On February 17, 2025, the court upheld a subsisting arrest warrant against the record label executive over alleged fraudulent conversion, with his arraignment scheduled for March 6, 2025.
Chinwo’s lawyers contend that VDM’s social media posts, made on February 2, 3, 4, 5, 12, and 17, were intended to tarnish the singer’s image and mislead the public.
They maintain that the false claims have caused significant reputational damage, professional setbacks, and emotional distress to their client.
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