Falana denies knowing Bobrisky, says ‘I’ve never spoken to him’
Femi Falana, human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has denied knowing controversial crossdresser, Idris Okuneye popularly known as Bobrisky nor having anything to do with his alleged bribing of prison officials.
In a viral video by a blogger, Martins Otse popularly known on social media as VeyDarkMan (VDM), Bobrisky was alleged to have paid some officials of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) to allow him to serve his sentence at a private apartment.
It was also alleged that the self-styled Mummy of Lagos paid some unnamed officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) ₦15 million to drop money laundering charges against him.
At the same time, VDM claimed that Falan sought a presidential pardon for Bobrisky for ₦10 million.
Falana finally reacts to the Bobrisky saga
Though he has remained silent since the sage commenced, Falana spoke up on Channels Television‘s Politics Today programme on Thursday, October 3, 2024.
“Bobrisky never spoke to me, I have never met him, I do not know him from Adam. He was alleged to have spoken to my son Folarin (Falz),” Falana said.
“Yes, my son said this guy was appealing to people for assistance and called my son I think on May 4 this year – please can you give me N3 million to be placed in a special part of the prison, we call it the VIP section.
“My son asked him, are you calling me under the authorisation of the superintendent of prisons? He said no – please don’t call me again, I am unable to assist you to bribe the prison authorities and be very careful since you are already in prison for an offence.
“Please if you are you are going to call me next time, you either go through the superintendent or you write a letter endorsed by the prison authorities and that was the last. Somebody now starts releasing tapes somewhere and went out to lampoon and rather defame me by saying the guy has spoken to me,” he further narrated.
Falana scolds VDM
He revealed that he has assisted 280 convicted people both home and abroad to get pardons and never on any occasion has he or his law firm demanded or received a dime from any pardoned person.
The respected lawyer described VDM’s allegation as ‘’infantile radicalism,’’ saying he has resisted the temptation to file a criminal complaint because he’s leading a team of legal practitioners in West Africa campaigning for decriminalisation of freedom of expression.
However, he said that doesn’t give anyone the leeway to defame and blackmail people, adding that his family will embark on civil proceedings to restore his integrity and that of his son.
Falana, therefore, said they intend to use this case to set an example so that nobody will simply run to social media to defame any Nigerians.
“We have asked for a retraction and an apology rendered to us and that is not too much. And if we do not have a retraction and apology acceptable to us, we are certainly going to initiate civil proceedings in the high court,” he added.
