Popular gospel singer Mercy Chinwo drags VDM to court for alleged defamation

Popular gospel singer Mercy Chinwo has filed a defamation lawsuit against controversial blogger Martins Vincent Otse, better known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The legal action follows allegations made by VDM on social media, accusing Chinwo of involvement in a contractual dispute and the diversion of $345,000 linked to her former record label boss, Ezekiel Onyedikachukwu, also known as Eezee Tee.

Chinwo, known for her hit songs like Excess Love, is seeking legal redress over what she describes as false and damaging accusations.

The lawsuit, filed by Pelumi Olajengbesi, Chinwo’s legal representative, seeks an order compelling VDM to delete, retract, and issue a public apology for all allegedly false and defamatory statements made against Chinwo and her brand.

In support of her claims, Chinwo furnished the court with documentary evidence, including emails and payment receipts, to substantiate that VDM’s allegations are entirely false.

On February 17, 2025, a Federal High Court in Lagos held that the arrest warrant against Ee Zee Tee over alleged fraudulent conversion subsists and adjourned the case until March 6, 2025 for the arraignment of the record label boss.

In the fresh defamation suit filed, Olajengbesi said VDM made the posts without provocation and apparent intention of lowering the Chinwo’s estimation in the eye of right-thinking members of the society.

He told the court that the VDM’s videos and posts are false and have caused significant harm to the Chinwo’s public image, reputation, professional standing and emotional well-being.

The lawyer said VDM made the posts on his Instagram handle on 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 12th and 17th February 2025 accusing Chinwo of “going behind the record label to go and collect shows, she was collecting gigs and she was not remitting money to the record label”.

In the suit, Olajengbesi said VDM posted a series of videos to millions of followers showing a;

“caricaturist and disdainful portrayal of the Claimant (Chinwo) as well the Defendant’s (VDM’s) bias towards the claim of Mr. EeZee T thereby deliberately ridiculing the position of the Claimant in the dispute between the Claimant and Mr. EeZee T”.

“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 Mr. EeZee T in any material particular.

“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 Mr. EeZee T; however, these statements were not only false, but damning and injurious to the Claimant’s public image and reputation.”

The lawyer sought;

“an order of this Honourable Court directing the Defendant to remove the defamatory posts from all his social media platforms.

“AN ORDER of this Honourable Court directing the Defendant to cause a retraction of the said defamatory statement in favour of the Claimant on all his social media platforms and to publish an unreserved apology to the Claimant in two widely circulated national dailies and all his social media platforms.

“AN ORDER of this Honourable Court directing the Defendants to write an unreserved apology to the Claimant and publish same in four national dailies, causing same to run for at least 14 consecutive days.

“AN ORDER of this Honourable Court directing the Defendant to pay to the Claimant the Sum of N1,000,000,000.00 (One Billion Naira) only as General Damages for defamation.

“AN ORDER of this Honourable Court directing the Defendant to pay to the Claimant, the Sum of N100,000,000.00 (One Hundred Million Naira) only as Punitive and Aggravated Damages for the grossly defamatory statement.

“AN ORDER of this Honourable Court directing the Defendant to pay the sum of N25,000,000.00 (Twenty-Five Million Naira) as the cost of this suit.

“AN ORDER of this Honourable Court directing the Defendant to pay 10% (Ten percent) on the judgment sum per annum until final liquidation of the judgment sum by the Defendants.”