The Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA) has asked the police to investigate controversial tweets made by singer Simi on X relating to alleged child abuse.
Executive Secretary of the agency, Lola Vivour-Adeniyi, made this known on Thursday during an appearance on Channels Television, explaining that the agency could not overlook the allegations.
The tweets made by Simi in 2012-2014 on X (then Twitter) gained traction after she posted comments on X about rape.
In her latest post, the singer urged men to stop raping women, suggesting that rapists should be castrated, disclosing that “almost every woman she knows has been sexually assaulted.”
Her post sparked debate online across social media platforms.
Soon after, screenshots of Simi’s older tweets dating back to 2012 and 2013 surfaced online.
Some of the posts referred to children at her mother’s daycare centre, including statements such as “love to kiss d kids at my mum’s daycare – they’re super adorable, and I’m crazy abt ’em,” “Why this 4yr old boy tryna put hand inside ma shet????? Ogbeni wash it oh!” among others.
The resurfaced posts triggered a backlash online, with some social media users describing the posts as inappropriate and directing criticism at the singer.
Addressing the issue on her social media page, Simi said the tweets reflected her youthful expressions at the time and her experiences while assisting at her mother’s daycare.
She insisted the posts were not written “from perversion” and argued that they had been misinterpreted and taken out of context.
Commenting on the development, Vivour-Adeniyi said the agency had been monitoring discussions around what some have labeled “Simi Gates and Simi Darlington,” following the circulation of tweets allegedly from 2012 and 2014.
“In terms of Simi, I think they are calling it Simi Gates and Simi Darlington. Some people have been asking what institutions are doing. I can speak for what Lagos State DSV is doing.
Read also:
- Tanzanian music star Diamond Platnumz opens up about challenges of fatherhood
- European-American University disowns honorary degree awarded Hausa musician
- Kano Police arrest suspects in Lagos Armed Robbery, attempted murder of Music Star Lil Kesh
“We’ve been observing, and because we had seen some tweets as far back as 2012, some in 2014, and then there were talks around certain tweets being doctored and all of that,” she said.
She noted that the agency has decided to escalate the matter for further review.
“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.
According to her, the state’s safeguarding task force has also been informed.
“In Lagos State, we have the task force saddled with the responsibility of implementing the safeguarding and child protection order, and the task force has been briefed on this, and preliminary investigations are ongoing,” Vivour-Adeniyi said.
She emphasized that the agency is obligated to begin preliminary inquiries, noting that any potential prosecution would require 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 a preliminary investigation.
“Is there any survivor? Because the truth of the matter is, 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.
