Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has disclosed that he has never spoken or met with a crossdresser, Idris Okuneye, popularly known as Bobrisky before in his lifetime.
Falana made this disclosure when he appeared in an interview on Channels TV on Thursday, insisting that none of his family had anything to do with Bobrisky.
He added that it was true that Bobrisky called his son, Falz, to help him with financial assistance when he was in prison, which he (Falz) refused to do.
Falana said, “Bobrisky never spoke to me, I have never met him, I don’t know him from Adam. He was alleged to have spoken to my son, Folarin, Falz. My son said this guy was appealing to him for assistance, and called my son, please, can you give me N3million to be placed in a special part of the prison; we call it VIP section.
“And my son asked, are you calling me under the authorisation of the superintendent of prisons, he said “No, please don’t call me again. I’m unable to assist you to bribe the prison authorities, and please be careful since you are already in jail for an offence, and if you are going to call me next time, you can either do it through the superintendent or write a letter endorsed by the prison authorities”, and that was the last.
“Somebody now said that he listened to a tape somewhere and he went out to lampoon, however, defamed me. My son has never negotiated fix on behalf of anybody. On the contrary, my three children normally refer people who need assistance to me.
“Now what I am going to do: I have resisted the temptation to file a criminal complaint because I am leading a team of lawyers in West Africa, campaigning for decriminalisation of freedom of expression. In this case, we are not going to file a criminal complaint, we won’t be pushed to do that. What we will do is embark on civil proceedings with a view to restoring our integrity, my own name and that of my son.”
Falana’s comments were in reaction to controversies that had trailed a recent publication made by social media influencer, Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan.
VeryDarkMan allegedly made some unverified and inaccurate claims against Falana, saying he was involved in a bribery allegation with Bobrisky.
However, VeryDarkMan on Monday tendered his “unreserved apology” to human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN when he appeared before the Nigerian House of Representatives.
He had said also he did not believe Falana was involved in the alleged bribery levelled against cross-dresser Idris Okuneye, popularly known as Bobrisky, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).