Mercy Chinwo has filed a lawsuit against social media critic Martins Vincent Otse popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM) for alleged defamation.
VeryDarkMan had in a series of posts on his official Instagram page in February, accused Chinwo of diverting funds from shows without remitting them to her former label, owned by Ezekiel Onyedikachukwu.
The social media critic also alleged that Chinwo violated contractual agreements with the label before parting ways.
Mercy in the lawsuit dated March 3 and filed through Pelumi Olajengbesi, her lawyer, accused VDM of making “libelous, malicious, spiteful, malevolent, and grossly defamatory statements that impugn the image and character” of her.
She argued that VDM, who was not personally involved in the dispute between her and EeZee Tee, her former manager, falsely portrayed her in a damaging and biased manner.
The suit reads, “The claimant avers that she has neither had any form of relationship with the defendant nor was the defendant involved in the issue between the claimant and EeZee T in any material particular.0
“The claimant avers that the statements which the defendant made in the videos he published his Instagram page were as though the defendant was personally involved in the issues between the claimant and EeZee T.”
“However, these statements were not only false but damning and injurious to the claimant’s public image and reputation.”
The singer seemed N1 billion in general damages, N100 million in punitive and aggravated damages, and an additional N25 million to cover the cost of the lawsuit.
Mercy also requested that the court order VDM to delete the alleged defamatory posts, issue a public apology, and publish retractions in four national newspapers for 14 consecutive days.
