‘‘He claims to have obtained these items from the Christ Mercyland Deliverance Ministry (CMDM) in Warri, where the church headquarters is based, which he never did. He got them from the roadside.”
Ihensekhien Samuel, Prophet Jeremiah Fufeyin’s lawyer, has alleged that social critic VeryDarkManoverstepped his boundaries to attack the prophet and challenge the authenticity of his (Fufeyin’s) spiritual products.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Fufeyin, founder of Christ Mercyland Deliverance Ministry (CMDM) in Warri, Delta State, sued VeryDarkMan for N1 billion for publicly questioning the legitimacy of his faith-based products and demanding NAFDAC certification.
Mr Samuel, in an exclusive interview with this newspaper on Thursday evening, also alleged that the spiritual products VeryDarkMan claimed he got and administered to people with disabilities were not authentic.
Earlier, this newspaper reported that VeryDarkMan showcased the effectiveness of Prophet Fufeyin’s miracle products in a 24-minute YouTube video. The video featured the administration of these products to individuals with disabilities.
VeryDarkMan conducted the experiments at an undisclosed disability home in Abuja, which houses approximately 1,500 persons with disabilities.
Mr Fufeyin’s lawyer said, “Supposedly, through a proxy of himself, went to get the water which is not from the church and took to a Muslim population to administer it on them, to cause hatred, threats to life, bullying to the personality of Prophet Jeremiah Fufeyin, contrary to section 24 of the Cybercrime Prohibition Act. He doesn’t know what he has done. That is purely the mother of the new Cybercrime Prohibition Act. So, the evidence he supposedly is relying on is all contrary and their matters are prohibited. There is no privity of contracts between Prophet Jeremiah and VeryDarkMan; for you to say you have contracts, you must have had the relationship by inference or that with the person. Where has he ever gone to the church? Is there any evidence anywhere when he went to buy anything from the church? There is no evidence. So, these are just cock and bull stories.
“More importantly, there is clear evidence that he has forged some church receipts to claim that he has a contract with Prophet Jeremiah falsely. An intensive investigation has been conducted, and those items do not originate from the registry or inventory of the court; we have a letter from the court to that effect. The purported receipts he used to buy those materials do not come from the church, and we have a disclaimer letter from the church to that effect. He claims to have obtained these items from the Christ Mercyland Deliverance Ministry (CMDM) in Warri, where the church headquarters is based, which he never did. He got them (spiritual products) from the roadside. We will address this further. The police are already investigating the matter, and he will be invited, allowing the law to take its course. VeryDarkMan, being a person of questionable character, continues to engage in cyberbullying and cyberstalking in complete violation of Section 24 of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act.”
Ongoing lawsuit
The case, which is ongoing at the Federal Capital Territory High Court, was adjourned for hearing on 6 September by Justice Nwosu Iheme last Friday.
Justice Iheme further ordered a status quo injunction, preventing Mr Fufeyin and VeryDarkMan from altering the current situation while the case is ongoing. A status quo injunction maintains the existing conditions until a final ruling.
Furthermore, Mr Samuel stated that VeryDarkMan is not authorised under the Nigerian Constitution to demand any product authenticity or NAFDAC certification.
He said: “Nigerians have the right to freedom of religion; VeryDarkMan does not have the right to interfere with the expression of Nigerians’ religious beliefs in any manner, provided they (Nigerians) don’t commit a crime in the expression of their religious beliefs. VeryDarkMan lacks the capacity and oversteps his bounds by attacking the prophet about his spiritual products because social media is not a place for taking legal steps. He (VeryDarkMan) is not part of any Nigerian regulatory agency, nor is he a staff member, ambassador, or the Attorney General of the Federation to institute cases on behalf of the government.
“What he does is purely cyber-bullying, cyber-stalking, meddlesome behaviour, and the law will take its course. If he has issues, there are law enforcement agencies and courts he can resort to, and it’s not recognised in the Nigerian constitution to come to social media to cyberbully and defame—it’s never done anywhere. You write to the authorities if you feel someone has committed criminal infractions. What VeryDarkMan did constitutes infractions under the Cybercrime Prohibition Act and many other laws. The truth is that the law will take its course.”