Renowned human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, and his famous musician son, Folarin also known as Falz, are taking a stand against defamatory statements made by popular crossdresser Bobrisky, whose real name is Idris Okuneye.
Bobrisky allegedly claimed that the Falanas were involved in a N10 million bribe, which they vehemently deny.
The Falanas have demanded that Bobrisky retract his statements and issue a public apology across all platforms where the defamatory claims were shared.
Their lawyers, Olorunfemi Akinyemj and Taiwo Olawanle, gave Bobrisky an ultimatum of 12 hours from receipt of the letter, dated October 14, 2024, to comply.
According to the letter, if Bobrisky fails to meet this demand, the Falanas’ lawyers will pursue legal action, seeking monetary damages for the harm caused by his defamatory statements.
The letter reads:
“We have confirmed that you took advantage of your recent imprisonment to extort money from a group of artists and other members of the public. You will recall that you called Mr. Folarin Falana, popularly known as Falz, on May 4, 2024, and requested him to assist you with the sum of N3million to secure a special place in the Kirikiri prison.
“Even though Falz turned down your request, you were quoted in a video to have said that he informed you that his father, our client, had undertaken to write a letter of pardon for you. You also said that our client had spoken to you and that the sum of N10million would be needed to bribe officials who would process the application for your pardon.
“In another video, you claimed that you had paid N5million upfront to a Senior Advocate of Nigeria in an attempt to secure a Federal Government pardon over the charges filed against you by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. You also claimed that the SAN had initially requested N10million for his legal services but that you explained to him that you were unable to raise the full amount as your account had been frozen by the EFCC.
“It is undoubtedly clear that you set out to enrich yourself at the expense of our client’s reputation. In fact, you have since published a list of persons who believed your concocted story and donated millions of Naira to pay our client to write a letter of pardon and bribe some unnamed public officers on your behalf.
“Your decision to involve our client in the criminal enterprise was a figment of your fertile imagination. Contrary to your spurious claims, you never briefed our client to write a letter of pardon for you. In particular, you never spoke to our client or instructed him to write a letter of pardon for you. Furthermore, you did not make a part payment of N5million to our client and our client never informed you that he had submitted a letter of pardon on your behalf.
“You will agree with us that you made all these defamatory statements recklessly when you knew that you did not call our client on the phone to instruct him to write a letter of pardon on your behalf.”
