The Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja has struck out the N1 billion defamation case filed by popular lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), and his son, musician Falz, against social media personality Martins Otse, known as VeryDarkMan.

The case was dismissed on Tuesday, April 15, by Justice Matthias Dawodu, who said it was unnecessary to continue with the matter since a similar case was already before another judge.

Femi Falana and Falz had sued VeryDarkMan for a video he posted on his social media accounts on September 24, 2024. In the video, he accused them of collecting N10 million from Bobrisky (real name Idris Okuneye) to help twist justice. Both father and son asked for N500 million each in damages.

During Tuesday’s court session, none of the parties were present. However, a lawyer representing VeryDarkMan told the judge that they had already filed an application before another judge, Justice Fimisola Azeez, to pause the proceedings.

The Falanas’ lawyer, Omotayo Olatunbosun, said he only received the application the day before at 4:15 p.m. He argued that the court should go ahead with the day’s hearing because the new application was just a tactic to delay the case.

But Justice Dawodu pointed out that the new application was not in his file. He also questioned why he was being asked to handle the matter when the main case was already in another court. In the end, he struck out the suit, saying going forward with it would be pointless.

This decision means the current case is closed at this court, but the matter may still continue in the other court.