‘VeryDarkMan got ‘spiritual items’ from roadside, forged church receipts -Prophet Fufeyin’s lawyer alleges

Ihensekhien Samuel, Prophet Jeremiah Fufeyin’s lawyer, has alleged that social critic VeryDarkMan overstepped his boundaries to attack the prophet and challenge the authenticity of his (Fufeyin’s) spiritual products.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Fufeyin, founder of Christ Mercyland Deliverance Ministry (CMDM) in Warri, Delta State, sued VeryDarkMan for N1 billion for publicly questioning the legitimacy of his faith-based products and demanding NAFDAC certification.

Mr Samuel, in an exclusive interview with this newspaper on Thursday evening, also alleged that the spiritual products VeryDarkMan claimed he got and administered to people with disabilities were not authentic.

Earlier, this newspaper reported that VeryDarkMan showcased the effectiveness of Prophet Fufeyin’s miracle products in a 24-minute YouTube video. The video featured the administration of these products to individuals with disabilities.

VeryDarkMan conducted the experiments at an undisclosed disability home in Abuja, which houses approximately 1,500 persons with disabilities.

Mr Fufeyin’s lawyer said, “Supposedly, through a proxy of himself, went to get the water which is not from the church and took to a Muslim population to administer it on them, to cause hatred, threats to life, bullying to the personality of Prophet Jeremiah Fufeyin, contrary to section 24 of the Cybercrime Prohibition Act. He doesn’t know what he has done. That is purely the mother of the new Cybercrime Prohibition Act. So, the evidence he supposedly is relying on is all contrary and their matters are prohibited. There is no privity of contracts between Prophet Jeremiah and VeryDarkMan; for you to say you have contracts, you must have had the relationship by inference or that with the person. Where has he ever gone to the church? Is there any evidence anywhere when he went to buy anything from the church? There is no evidence. So, these are just cock and bull stories.

“More importantly, there is clear evidence that he has forged some church receipts to claim that he has a contract with Prophet Jeremiah falsely. An intensive investigation has been conducted, and those items do not originate from the registry or inventory of the court; we have a letter from the court to that effect. The purported receipts he used to buy those materials do not come from the church, and we have a disclaimer letter from the church to that effect. He claims to have obtained these items from the Christ Mercyland Deliverance Ministry (CMDM) in Warri, where the church headquarters is based, which he never did. He got them (spiritual products) from the roadside. We will address this further. The police are already investigating the matter, and he will be invited, allowing the law to take its course. VeryDarkMan, being a person of questionable character, continues to engage in cyberbullying and cyberstalking in complete violation of Section 24 of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act.”

Ongoing lawsuit

The case, which is ongoing at the Federal Capital Territory High Court, was adjourned for hearing on 6 September by Justice Nwosu Iheme last Friday.

Justice Iheme further ordered a status quo injunction, preventing Mr Fufeyin and VeryDarkMan from altering the current situation while the case is ongoing. A status quo injunction maintains the existing conditions until a final ruling.

Furthermore, Mr Samuel stated that VeryDarkMan is not authorised under the Nigerian Constitution to demand any product authenticity or NAFDAC certification.

NAFDAC Headquarters, Abuja

He said: “Nigerians have the right to freedom of religion; VeryDarkMan does not have the right to interfere with the expression of Nigerians’ religious beliefs in any manner, provided they (Nigerians) don’t commit a crime in the expression of their religious beliefs. VeryDarkMan lacks the capacity and oversteps his bounds by attacking the prophet about his spiritual products because social media is not a place for taking legal steps. He (VeryDarkMan) is not part of any Nigerian regulatory agency, nor is he a staff member, ambassador, or the Attorney General of the Federation to institute cases on behalf of the government.

“What he does is purely cyber-bullying, cyber-stalking, meddlesome behaviour, and the law will take its course. If he has issues, there are law enforcement agencies and courts he can resort to, and it’s not recognised in the Nigerian constitution to come to social media to cyberbully and defame—it’s never done anywhere. You write to the authorities if you feel someone has committed criminal infractions. What VeryDarkMan did constitutes infractions under the Cybercrime Prohibition Act and many other laws. The truth is that the law will take its course.”

Status quo, contempt of court

Additionally, Mr Fufeyin’s legal counsel alleged that VeryDarkMan disregarded court orders for continuous defaming, cyberbullying, and cyberstalking of his client.

Mr Samuel emphasised the potential legal consequences, stating that the social media influencer could face imprisonment for his reckless behaviour and false claims against Mr Fufeyin.

“There is an order to maintain the status quo because as soon as the court precedent of the FCT was served, it became an automatic injunctive order of status quo, meaning no steps should be taken to undermine the court proceedings and the matter before the court. VeryDarkMan, in defiance of that, came on social media, called the man names again, and said, ‘Papa, don’t sue me; the soap is fake.’ The soap in question has a NAFDAC number. It’s just a soap like any other but in the form of a spiritual material, where a pastor or prophet blesses it and says the member can apply it. So, that is not a crime.

“That’s not for VeryDarkMan to start labelling and cyberstalking. Subsequently, we returned to court later and informed the court about the atrocious act of several defamatory videos continuously made by VeryDarkMan against our client. The court looked at it and found merit in our oral application. We had a pending application, written summons, and filed a motion, which the court asked VeryDarkMan to respond to. We had a motion for an injunction, and the court found merit in what we were saying, so the court officially granted an injunctive order of status quo,” he added.

Mr Fufeyin’s attorney stated that his client remains steadfast in the legal proceedings against VeryDarkMan, noting that complete machinery will be enforced against him.

Debunking VeryDarkMan’s allegation of the miracle products being removed from the church website, he noted, “No, the said products are on the church website, and they are not illegal. They are all in the church. It is a false story he cooked up that they’re removed. That is not to what is even before the court; what is before the court is whether VeryDarkMan cyberbullied, labelled and slandered Prophet Jeremiah.”

Legal action stage

Mr Samuel maintained that the ongoing case is at the stage of hearing the preliminary applications.

“We have several motions for an injunction, and VeryDarkMan said he has a motion for a proposed bridge or whatever. VeryDarkMan should understand that he lacks the local standing to initiate matters on behalf of NAFDAC. He is not the Attorney General. When the time comes, we will prove that in court.”

VDM lawyer reacts

Meanwhile, VeryDarkMan lawyer Ademola Adedokun told this newspaper in an interview that his client didn’t violate contempt of court—court status quo order—in the ongoing legal battle against Prophet Fufeyin.

He said: “He has not violated any order made by the court in whatever respect. He continues to maintain his status quo, and that’s what we stand for. They (Mr Fufeyin and his lawyer) said on the 17 of July, he (VeryDarkMan) made a defamatory post, and that his 17 of July post, which, if you go to his page, is still there, and that is maintaining the status quo, and we are maintaining it.

“What is the thing afterwards? If you go to the pages of their (Jeremiah Fufeyin) website now, it is an issue because we also have our case; we have a contract with them, and the court said we should maintain the status quo. All the products they advertise on their website have been removed. Are they maintaining the status quo by removing all those items?”

Restrain

Furthermore, VeryDarkMan’s counsel stated that the court denied Mr Fufeyin’s request for an injunction to prevent his client from further defaming him.

He said: “Prophet Jeremiah Omoto Fufeyin, through his client, applied to court after filing his writ of summons on 22 of July, according to the date on the writ. They appeared in court on 25 July asking for another ex parte that the court should restrain the defendant, that is, my client, from continuing to defame him (Jeremiah Fufeyin), and you will agree with me that for a court to now make such an order that he (VeryDarkMan) should stop defaming him (Jeremiah Fufeyin) when the court has not heard from the other side.

“When the court has not heard the main case, it is statically luring the court to conclude that the defamation had never occurred. So the court declined to make that order on the 25 of July that Vincent Martins Otse should stop defaming him because saying that would mean that the court would be biased; the court would have said, you have defamed him, then stop defaming him. The court refused the order and asked us to come and show cause, asking why what they were asking for should not be made.”

Additionally, Mr Adedokun also stated that on 30 July, during their (his and VeryDarkMan’s) court appearance, they confirmed receiving the court documents.

“When we were in court on the 30th of July, we acknowledged that the court process had been served on us and that ordinarily, when the court process has been served on parties, both parties usually maintain the status quo.

“So another status quo is not relative to either of the parties; it is relative to both of them and then that order relates to the dispute. So, if it is a building over land in dispute, both parties will leave the structure where it is, as they went to court. So I told the court that ordinarily law lawyers know, and our clients also know, that if the case is in court, the status quo should be maintained”, he noted.

Product removal battle

Jeremiah Fufeyin and VeryDarkMan (VDM)

This newspaper reported that the 53-year-old clergyman announced on Sunday via his Facebook page that the church would take legal action against VeryDarkMan for making false accusations about him and his products.

In a statement signed by Sophia Lloyd, the church alleged that VeryDarkMan, in a recent video, claimed the church had removed all approved spiritual items from its official website.

The church denied the allegations and labelled them unfounded lies and cheap propaganda. It announced it had instructed its legal team to take action against the social media influencer.

READ ALSO: Miracle Products: Court adjourns VeryDarkMan, Prophet Jeremiah Fufeyins case

Responding to the church’s legal threat, VeryDarkMan’s lawyer claimed they hadn’t received a formal court notice, saying, “We are waiting for whatever action they want to take. It’s a legal battle, and it has started, and the substance of the case is still before the court.

“Ordinarily, I would not comment on the substance of the case, apart from all these peripherals and the issue that relates to public curiosity. All these peripheral issues that relate to the issue of public curiosity are the only things we can respond to. But so far, we have not heard anything from them. And we are waiting.”