Falana, Falz Write Bobrisky, Demand Retraction of Defamatory Statement

Human Rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, and his son, Folarin, aka Falz, have asked popular crossdresser, Idris Okuneye, also known as Bobrisky, to immediately retract defamatory and derogatory statements regarding their involvement in an alleged N10 million bribe.

The Falanas are also demanding an apology prominently aired or published on all platforms that disseminated the offensive statement without justification.

In a letter dated October 14, 2024, by their lawyers, Olorunfemi Akinyemj and Taiwo Olawanle, the Falanas gave Bobrisky 12 hours from receipt of the letter to make the formal retraction and apology. If Bobrisky fails to comply, the Falanas’ lawyers will seek legal remedies, including monetary damages, for his incendiary defamatory statements.

According to the letter, Bobrisky took advantage of his recent imprisonment to extort money from artists and the public. He had requested Falz to assist him with N3 million to secure a special place in Kirikiri prison. Despite Falz turning down the request, Bobrisky claimed that Falz informed him that his father, Femi Falana, would write a letter of pardon for him, and that N10 million would be needed to bribe officials to process the application.

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 N3 million 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 N10 million would be needed to bribe officials who would process the application for your pardon.

“In another video, you claimed that you had paid N5 million 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 N10 million 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 N5 million 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.”