LAGOS, Nigeria — The Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency has referred allegations linked to resurfaced social media posts associated with Nigerian singer Simi to the state’s Commissioner of Police for a preliminary investigation.
The decision was disclosed on Thursday, February 26, 2026, during a television interview by the agency’s Executive Secretary, Lola Vivour-Adeniyi, on Channels Television. She said the agency could not ignore the growing public concern surrounding the matter.
The controversy began after Simi posted comments on social media condemning rape. In her post, she said men should stop raping women, suggested that rapists should be castrated, and stated that “almost every woman she knows has been sexually assaulted.” The remarks generated significant online discussion.
Soon afterward, screenshots of older tweets believed to date back to 2012 and 2013 began circulating online. Some of the posts appeared to reference children at a daycare centre reportedly operated by her mother. Among the resurfaced messages were statements such as “love to kiss d kids at my mum’s daycare – they’re super adorable and I’m crazy abt ’em” and “Why this 4yr old boy tryna put hand inside ma shet????? Ogbeni wash it oh!”, among others.
The circulation of the old posts triggered criticism from some social media users, who described the language as inappropriate. The issue gained momentum online, with some users demanding institutional action.
In response, Simi addressed the matter on her social media platform, explaining that the posts reflected her youthful years and her experience assisting at her mother’s daycare facility. She stated that the tweets were not written “from perversion” and maintained that they had been taken out of context.
Speaking on the agency’s position, Vivour-Adeniyi said officials had been monitoring developments around what some online commentators referred to as “Simi Gates and Simi Darlington.” She noted that the agency observed discussions concerning tweets said to date back to 2012 and 2014, including claims that some posts may have been altered.
“In terms of Simi, I think they are calling it Simi Gates and Simi Darlington. Some people have been asking what are institutions doing? I can speak for what Lagos State DSV is doing.
“We’ve been observing and because we had seen some tweets as far back as 2012, some 2014, and then there were talks around certain tweets being doctored and all of that,” she said.
Vivour-Adeniyi explained that the agency decided to escalate the matter to law enforcement authorities for further scrutiny.
“But what we’ve done is to actually refer the case to the Commissioner of Police to at least conduct some preliminary investigation. As you’ve said, there are also reports that this may have happened in a creche managed by her mom. And so issues of safeguarding and child protection concerns have been raised,” she stated.
She added that the Lagos State safeguarding taskforce, which is responsible for implementing child protection and safeguarding orders within the state in southwestern Nigeria, has also been informed.
“In Lagos State, we have the taskforce saddled with the responsibility of implementing the safeguarding and child protection order and that the taskforce has been briefed on this and preliminary investigations are ongoing,” Vivour-Adeniyi said.
According to her, the agency has a statutory duty to initiate preliminary inquiries when issues relating to possible sexual abuse or child protection arise. However, she stressed that any prosecution would depend on the presence of a complainant.
“For the Simi case, we cannot act like we have not seen this. And so we have a duty to at least commence preliminary investigation. Is there any survivor? Because the truth of the matter, it’s going to be very difficult to prosecute the lady without a survivor being present.
“A victim of whatever it is — is it sexual abuse, is it defilement, is it sexual assault by penetration and what have you — so it’s to start the process, encourage anybody who was allegedly sexually assaulted by Simi to please come forward and ensure that their statement is taken and then we know where we’re going to on the matter,” she added.
Okay News reports that the police preliminary review will determine whether further investigative or legal steps are required. As of the time of reporting, no formal charges have been announced, and authorities have indicated that the process remains at an early stage.
The development underscores the increasing scrutiny faced by public figures in Nigeria when past online statements resurface, particularly in cases involving child safeguarding concerns. What follows next will depend on the findings of the police inquiry and whether any individual comes forward with a formal complaint.
