Nedu, an on-air personality (OAP), has issued a pre-action notice to social media critic VeryDarkMan (VDM) over allegations of defamation.
Gatekeepers News reports that the situation escalated when DeeOne, a comedian and reality star, claimed on the Honest Bunch podcast that VDM had engaged in intimate relationships with men. In response, VDM accused Nedu of orchestrating these allegations and leaking private conversations they had.
VDM went on to accuse Nedu of sexual exploitation, asserting that he had shared details about his personal relationships with women in confidence. This controversy prompted Nedu to resign from his position as a host on the podcast. Additionally, VDM alleged that the Nedu Scholarship Foundation (NDSCHF) was involved in defrauding a non-governmental organization (NGO) that had sought a partnership with Nedu.
In a letter dated February 24, Nedu’s counsel claimed that VDM posted a video on his social media pages “which contained a host of defamatory, false and disparaging attacks and rhetorics against our clients”.
The letter referenced the NGO issue, stating that Nedu’s team filed a police petition. It said the “police investigation found no legitimate case against Nedu, and the matter did not progress to court”.
Nedu’s counsel demanded that VDM retract all videos involving the media personality within 24 hours, publish a public apology, and pay N500 million in damages. The letter said failure to comply will result in further legal action.
“The rest of the video included you uttering similar false narratives and defamatory remarks that you stated in the previous video. Same was done in the other 2 videos you have posted relating to my Client and this Fraud issue,” the letter reads.
“Your continuous and relentless attempts to defame Nedu and Tokindrumz and tarnish their good and respected name are both unwarranted and damaging. Let it be clearly stated: Our Clients did not commit fraud against MSBM.
“In view of the above-stated facts with supporting documents, we have instructions to solicit for the following options: a retraction of every video involving Nedu on every one of your platforms within 24 hours of receiving this notice.
“A public apology, published on every one of your platforms within 24 hours of receiving this notice and the sum of N500,000,000 (Five Hundred Million Naira) for damage to reputation caused.
“Take notice, where you render settlement inevitable, we have further instructions to seek the following reliefs by filing an action against you.
“While you are free to exercise your constitutionally guaranteed fundamental right to expression, said right should be used justly and carefully. You are only allowed to disseminate credible and factual information and not baseless accusations made to damage the reputation of any citizen. We hope that you address the issues raised.”
