The Nigerian Human Rights Community (NIHRCO) has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to identify and apprehend the criminals responsible for issuing death threats against the daughter of prominent human rights activist Mr. Femi Falana (SAN).
In statement on Thursday, NIHRCO described the threat as a ‘historical challenge’ to Nigeria, urging the President to be on top of the situation and provide leadership in fishing out those responsible for sending threats to Falana’s daughter.
The group said by now, Nigerians expected the Inspector General of Police, Mr Kayode Egbetokun and the Department of State Services (DSS) to have arrested Mr Martins Otse, better known as VeryDarkMan since the threat was meant to deter Mr Falana from going to court against him.
The rights groups urged Nigerians to be weary of common criminals and rogues portraying themselves as defenders of helpless Nigerians, adding that many of them are professional blackmailers working as conscious state agents.
It said, “The Nigerian Human Rights Community stands with Mr Falana at this moment. Threat to death was sent to his daughter by common criminals.
“The sender(s) provided clues by using cellphone to send the message. Phone numbers cannot be registered in Nigeria without NIN. It means the identities of the criminals should not be difficult to unveil,” the rights group said in a statement signed by its official, Taiwo Adeleye.
The group described Falana as a ‘storming icon’ whose contributions to human rights struggle span over four decades. It said, “It is difficult to quantify the contributions of Mr Falana to democracy and human rights in Nigeria. While he was in the trenches, fighting the military, at the risk of his life, some of those in power today were collaborators who made profit from supporting military dictatorship.”
The group described those behind the threat message as ‘anti-history’ who have no conscience, cowards, certainly driven by violent instinct without any justification.
“Nigerians know those to the held responsible if anything happens Mr Falana or any member of his family,” NIHRCO said.
“Any attack on Mr Falana is an attack on the civil rights movement in Nigeria. This is the time to find out who is responsible for the threat message. This is a big challenge for President Tinubu. It is a challenge he must resolve. Nigerians want to know the vagabonds responsible for sending the threat message.”
Mr Falana had disclosed that one of these daughters received death threats from anonymous person(s) with a message that his daughter would be harmed if Falana proceeded with litigation against a social media figure, VeryDarkMan, who released an audio a few weeks ago where he made some allegations against the human rights activist.
In an interview with Sahara TV, Falana disclosed that he had been threatened by some elements, warning him not to approach the court.
Falana described those behind the threats as “mentally deranged”.
As a prominent human rights activist and lawyer, Falana has a history of advocating for justice and defending the rights of marginalised individuals and communities.
He is the founder of Falana & Falana Chambers, a law firm that specialises in human rights law, criminal law, and civil litigation.
Speaking in the interview, he said: “The only disturbing area in this scenario is the threat to me and one of my two daughters. Some of these guys who I believe are mentally deranged have dared me, ‘If you like, if you go to court, we shall burn your office’.
“They have also sent messages to one of my daughters that if your father goes to court, we shall kill you. I beg your pardon in this country, I just laughed and I asked my daughter, don’t worry, I will take it up.
“I have already taken that up because we must also let these guys know where we are coming from.”
On September 27, 2024, SaharaReporters reported that Falana’s daughter, Folakemi, had issued a strong and unequivocal rebuttal to the recent spate of allegations levelling accusations of bribery and corruption against her family members – her father and her brother, the celebrated Nigerian musician Falz, as well as Nigerian socialite, Idris Okuneye, aka Bobrisky.
In a spirited defence of her family’s integrity, Folakemi Falana dismissed the unsubstantiated claims, emphasising that they are completely baseless and lacking in merit.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria had earlier given VeryDarkMan 24 hours to “retract his offensive and derogatory publication,” against him and issue a public apology while his son, Folarin Falana, aka Falz, in a separate letter also made similar demands.
