Responding to the bench warrant, the blogger’s lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, said the singer is only interested in media trial.

The Chief Magistrate Court, Wuse Zone 6, Abuja, has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of blogger Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), for “criminal defamation” of the reputation of gospel singer, Mercy Chinwo.

The magistrate ordered the Nigeria Police Force together with other law enforcement agencies to arrest VeryDarkMan and bring him to court to answer the allegations levelled against him.

Magistrate Emmanuel Iyanna issued the bench warrant on Thursday, March 13, 2025, when VeryDarkMan failed to appear before the magistrate following a court summons on March 5, 2025, for him to do so.

Though VeryDarkMan’s lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, appealed to the magistrate to rethink the bench warrant and that he would personally produce his client in court, Magistrate Iyanna rejected the appeal and insisted that VeryDarkMan be produced in court by security agencies.

When contacted, Adeyanju told Channels Television that a bench warrant was issued against his client.

“Yes, a bench warrant has been issued against him for failure to show up in court.

“They are just interested in media trial over the matter. They are not interested in prosecuting the matter,” Adeyanju said.

The bench warrant stemmed from alleged defamatory statements made by VDM on social media, accusing Chinwo of involvement in a contractual dispute and the purported diversion of $345,000 linked to her former record label boss, Ezekiel Onyedikachukwu, also known as Eezee Tee.

In support of her claims, Chinwo furnished the court with documentary evidence, including emails and payment receipts, to substantiate that VDM’s allegations were not only entirely false but damning and injurious to her public image and reputation.

The complainant’s lawyers led by Pelumi Olajengbesi of Abuja-based law firm, Law Corridor, Chinwo said the alleged actions of the defendant are contrary to Sections 391 of the Penal Code and Section 24 (1)(B) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention etc) Act 2015.

Mercy Chinwo and VDM (right).

Recall that Chinwo’s counsel also dragged VDM before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, seeking N1.1bn damages against the blogger.

The lawyer sought an order compelling VDM to delete, retract, and issue a public apology for all allegedly false and defamatory statements made against Chinwo and her brand.

The facial bones of an adult nicknamed “Pink,” unearthed in Spain, rewrite humankind’s early history in Europe.

Scientists in Spain have excavated fossilized facial bones that may be from a previously unknown species of the human family.

The bones are roughly 1.1 million to 1.4 million years old, according to research published on Wednesday in the journal Nature.

The discovery makes the adult — nicknamed “Pink” — the oldest face in Western Europe, archeologists said.

The fossil was nicknamed as a reference to English rock band Pink Floyd.

Specimen discovered in 2022

The upper jawbone and partial cheekbone were found in 2022 at the Atapuerca archaeological site in Spain’s northern region.

A team of the country’s scientists have since been at work to find out more about the human ancestor.

The study “introduces a new actor in the history of human evolution in Europe,” said Rosa Huguet, lead researcher at Spain’s University of Rovira i Virgili, during a conference.

The bones were dug at the Sima del Elefante cave site, roughly 250 metres away from where the fossils of Western Europe’s previous oldest human — Homo antecessor — were found 20 years ago.

What do scientists know?

The anatomy of Pink’s face is more primitive than that of Homo antecessor who inhabited Western Europe around 850,000 years ago.

While the Homo antecessor had a slender midface that resembled modern people, the face of of the new fossil is more “projected forward and more robust,” Maria Martinon-Torres, director of Spain’s National Research Center on Human Evolution and study co-author, said.

Pink bears some resemblance to Homo erectus, which is why it has been provisionally named Homo affinis erectus.

Homo erectus lived around 2 million years ago and moved from Africa to regions of Asia and Europe.

The last individuals of the archaic human species died out around 100,000 years ago.

Researchers added that the incomplete fossils were not enough to conclude that Pink belonged to a yet-unnamed ancient human species but said that could be a real possibility.

Two charred remains of unidentified persons have been recovered following an explosion on Tuesday night that triggered an inferno on Otedola Bridge, Lagos.

Credit: vanguard