‘Retract audio recording, pay N1bn damages or get sued’

Embattled crossdresser Idris Okuneye, aka Bobrisky, has announced his following line of action against social media influencer Martins ‘VeryDarkMan’ Otse over his alleged leaked audio.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that VeryDarkMan, through his Instagram page, leaked an alleged audio recording of the crossdresser narrating his six-month jail term experience with a friend.

In the leaked audio, Bobrisky alleged that the EFCC collected N15 million from him to drop the money laundering charges against him.

He also alleged that he served his prison sentence in a private apartment after his godfather contacted the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Correctional Service.

More so, Bobrisky alleged that Falz and his father, Human Rights lawyer Femi Falana, contacted him to help him secure a ‘presidential pardon’.

The leaked audio generated widespread discussions and led to affected government agencies and the House of Representatives ordering probes into the allegations.

However, Bobrisky, in a cease and desist notice by his lawyers R.T. Omuvwie and Co., and shared on his social media accounts Sunday, claimed that the voice recording was doctored.

“Your artificial intelligence-generated audio conversation published by you is the brainwork of you and any other person who worked with you to create the same. Therefore, we warn you that in the future, you should remove our client’s name from the said recording or anything that may connect our client to the alleged recording.

“Our client had no idea of such a telephone conversation with you or anyone else. It has come to our notice that since the publication of the said blackmail material and defamatory content by you, our client has suffered immense damages and has gotten several damaging reviews of his person, his brand and everything he holds dear”, the notice read.

Demands

Bobrisky’s legal team claimed the leaked audio had severely damaged his reputation and livelihood.

Furthermore, Bobrisky’s legal team demanded that VeryDarkMan remove the audio and issue public apologies in two national newspapers and on social media.

They also placed a cease-and-desist order against VeryDarkMan for defamatory content and demanded N1 billion in damages.

It read: “That as it relates to our client, we demand that you take down immediately the said Artificial intelligence audio recording published as a video by you with your defamatory commentary voiceover which you dangerously and recklessly alleged our client, same is not a product of our client, hence the name, description or anything whatsoever ascribed to our client in the process of your publishing the said defamatory material.

“We, therefore, demand, in addition on behalf of our client, a written apology published in two national daily newspapers, a video recording of your apology to our client published on all your social media platforms, an undertaking to desist from reporting, publishing defamatory contents against our client and the payment in favour of our client the sum of N1,000,000,000 as damages within 24 hours of this letter on you via social media or any other means.”

Legal action

Furthermore, the crossdresser legal team warned VeryDarkMan that failure to comply with their demands would result in legal action.

“That your failure to fulfil and take advantage of the alternative dispute resolution mechanism introduced and stated in paragraphs 10 and 11 of this demand notice, we shall seek legal redress in a court with competent jurisdiction immediately without any further notices to you. We hope that this can be resolved within the next 24 hours”, the lawsuit added.

VeryDarkMan reacts

Reacting to the lawsuit in a video posted on his Instagram, VeryDarkMan alleged that Bobrisky’s demand for a 24-hour retraction and apology was questionable.

The social media influencer insisted that the EFCC provide a statement detailing the crossdresser’s alleged N15 million payment and disclose the officials involved in the alleged bribery scandal.

Additionally, he claimed that Falz, in his lawsuit against him, confirmed the recording Bobrisky labelled as artificially generated.

He said: “So, Bobrisky slammed me with a N1 billion lawsuit after claiming he wanted to commit suicide. As usual, they will trade their credibility for my publicity. In this case, I’ll make them suffer. Some people’s integrity will be damaged, and they will regret taking this case. There’s a conspiracy going on. After I posted the leaked audio, Falz gave me twenty-four hours to retract my statement.

“Meanwhile, Bobrisky was acting confused, posting random things, claiming to be depressed and even contemplating suicide. Now, he suddenly has the energy to sue me and gives me a twenty-four-hour request, clearly showing he’s working with Falz. I feel like no one is addressing Bobrisky because if they do, he’ll reveal everything, which could cause serious problems. It’s obvious they’re hiding something, and now I believe what I exposed is much bigger than I initially thought. In the voice recording, Bobrisky admitted to paying the EFCC N15 million to drop charges against him, which is believable since he was arrested on money laundering charges.

“He also mentioned staying in a lodge, and when a representative from the Correctional Centre came for damage control, he made things worse by claiming his (Bobrisky) female features led to him being placed in a separate area because of homosexual, even though he (Bobrisky) claimed in court that he’s a man. What law allows for three genders? The Constitution only recognises two. The account number to which he transferred the money and all transactions must be exposed, including the officials involved. As for the video Bobrisky claimed was AI-generated, Falz has already confirmed it, stating that Bobrisky reached out to him, saying he needed N3 million.”

In the ten-minute video, VeryDarkMan did not apologise for allegedly defaming Bobrisky.