By Ologeh Joseph Chibu
Nigeria’s leading human rights lawyer, Mr Femi Falana may head to the court to challenge unfounded reports that his chambers received money from cross dresser Idris Okuneye to secure Federal pardon.
A social media actor Martins Otse alias VeryDarkMan made the allegation in his interpretation of a voice recording said to belong to Okunneye.
The voice recording is yet to be subjected to forensic analysis promoting doubts that it belonged to Okunneye
In the report, the convicted cross dresser made a string of allegations against officials of Economic and Financial Crime Commission, (EFCC) that he paid N15m to ensure money laundering charges against her were dropped in order to secure light sentence by the Court.
He also said after her conviction, he made contacts with some influential figures who ensured he got an apartment close to the correctional centre as dictated by law.
But onThursday, the Nigerian Human Rights Community, (NIHRC) cautioned the public to be weary of plots to blackmail the human rights crusader, Falana.
“There is no indication that the voice played belonged to Bobrisky. Again, there is no evidence that the voice was not mutilated or edited if at all it was his voice ” the NIHRC Director of Publicity, Taiwo Adeleye said in a chat with Irohinoodua adding that in the age of Artificial Intelligence, anyone could mimick any voice using simple manoeuvre techniques.
The NIHRC, a coalition of over 100 civil society groups said leading human rights activists all over the world are traditionally targets of blackmail by politically and financially exposed persons.
“Falana has over four decades of meritorious service to the masses of Nigeria without any stain in his career. He has been consistent. The so called Bobrisky voice looks like another attempt to blackmail Falana and impugn the reputation he has built over the years,” the NIHRC said.
The coalition said even if it turned out that the voice was that of Okunneye, he might be part of the conspiracy to tarnish Mr Falana’s name given the lawyer’s constant opposition to State and Federal authorities either under the military or civilian regimes.
The Ministry of Interior in its response had said that the supervising Minister Bunmi Tunji-Ojo unequivocally condemned the alleged reprehensible behaviour, emphasising that any form of indiscipline, unprofessionalism, or corruption will be met with zero tolerance and severe consequences within the paramilitary services under the ministry’s purview.
The Ministry said it would not tolerate any compromise on its core values of integrity, transparency, and accountability adding that it would leave no stone unturned in rooting out corruption and ensuring that those found culpable face the full wrath of the law.
In defence of Falana his lawyers said in a letter to VeryDarkMan “We are counsel for Mr Femi Falana SAN (hereinafter referred to as “our client”), on whose behalf we write this letter regarding your publication and dissemination of defamatory statements against him.
“Your publication of September 25, 2024, on your Instagram page captioned ‘In everything and everyone that is mentioned here, I will be disappointed if truly FALZ and his father are involved in this whole Bobrisky issue…’ refers.
“In publishing the statement on several online platforms, you informed your large viewership that Mr. Femi Falana ‘spoke to Bobrisky in order to divert justice’.
“Your publication contained multiple allegations and that you did not expect Mr Femi Falana, who was a lawyer to the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti, whom everyone respects, to ‘engage in something like this?’.
“Your publication further alleged that Mr Femi Falana SAN wanted to get a presidential pardon for Bobrisky for the sum of N10,000,000.00.
“As if that was not enough, you proceeded to state as follows: ‘I don’t even believe that Femi Falana would bring himself down to this level, the whole Femi Falana would engage himself with something like this’… ‘The man started the pardon and he said he wanted to send it to the Minister of Justice in Abuja, who will send it to the President to approve it but you know Nigeria with corruption.’
“’Femi FALANA collected N10,000,000 in order to wipe his name off record. These are people I respected. These are people I look up to…it is obvious that Nigeria will not go anywhere soon.’”
The letter said the social media post by VeryDarkMan portrayed Falana in a bad light as “the direct meaning of the imputation, and/or innuendo contained in the false, misleading and defamatory statements is that: Mr Femi Falana is deceitful and that his motivation for fighting against injustice and corruption in Nigeria and entire Africa is a ruse.
“Mr Femi Falana spoke to Bobrisky to divert justice (sic) with a view to perverting justice for financial gains and material benefits.
“Mr. Femi Falana solicited a brief from Bobrisky and thereby contravened the Legal Practitioner Rules of Professional Conduct.
“Mr Femi Falana has participated in a device that constitutes subterfuge in concert with others who you also characterised as corrupt.”
“Mr Falana’s fight against injustice is inconsistent with his publicly acclaimed and validated record of competence, honesty and integrity.”
“Mr Falana, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has engaged in conduct that is incompatible with his professional role and duty as a legal practitioner in Nigeria.”
The chamber described VeryDarkMan’s publication as “a vicious, wicked and reckless ploy to impugn the reputation of our client and lower him in the estimation of right-thinking members of the public.”
It said while the social media influencer had the fundamental right to freedom of expression guaranteed by the Nigerian Constitution, “you are duty bound to ensure that what you publish and disseminate is credible and factual in every material particular. In other words, you have no right under the law to damage the reputation of any citizen by spreading baseless allegations based on sheer falsehood.”
The lawyers, therefore, “demand immediate retraction of the offensive and derogatory publication as well as an apology prominently published in all the platforms to which you have disseminated it without any justification whatsoever.”
“Be advised that if we do not receive your formal retraction and apology as demanded within 24 hours of the receipt hereof, we shall proceed with our client’s instructions to seek appropriate legal remedies, including monetary damages, against you for your incendiary publication and dissemination of defamatory statements,” they stated.