Sunday, June 14, 2026

The Sun Nigeria

Simi under fire as NAPTIP opens probe over daycare claims

Simi

By Goli Innocent

Nigeria’s anti-trafficking agency has pledged to investigate allegations of child sexual abuse linked to singer and songwriter Simisola Kosoko following renewed social media backlash over old posts from her X account.

The development comes after netizens resurfaced tweets from 2012 in which the “Duduke” crooner allegedly made comments about toddlers at her mother’s daycare centre. The controversy intensified after Simi spoke out about sexual assault concerns in Nigeria in the wake of a now-retracted rape allegation by a TikToker, prompting critics to revisit her past statements.

In a statement posted on Instagram on Tuesday, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) said it was taking the matter seriously. “Following recent public discussions and concerns raised regarding alleged incidents of child sexual abuse/misconduct in daycare settings in Nigeria, we are committed to thoroughly investigating credible reports.

The agency urged members of the public to provide evidence where available. “We kindly request anyone with factual information, evidence, direct knowledge, or who was personally affected by the matters referenced in the viral posts or related experiences to kindly reach out to us confidentially… We take all reports of child sexual abuse/misconduct seriously and are committed to investigating every credible claim.”

Responding to the backlash earlier, Simi said she made the posts at age 23 while assisting at her mother’s daycare and insisted they had been misinterpreted. “I’ve never been depraved in my life,” she said. “You can retweet all the tweets in the world about me loudly crushing on people I admire/d and or being a cheeky young woman. I wasn’t trying to hide it, because I don’t have anything to hide.”

The singer also disclosed that her team had begun deleting some of the old posts out of consideration for her family, even though she was initially reluctant to remove them. As of press time, no formal charges have been announced, but NAPTIP says it will proceed with a full review of any credible evidence submitted.