The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons has officially invited Nigerian singer, Mr. Darlington Okoye, popularly known as Speed Darlington, for questioning after he claimed in a video that he once had sexual relations with a minor.
NAPTIP, in a statement shared on Thursday, said the video where the artist made the confession has gone viral, sparking serious concerns.
The agency wrote, “Mr. Darlington Okoye (AKA Speed Darlington) is urged to respond to the official invitation issued on May 28, 2025, regarding a viral video and others in which he admitted to sexually abusing a minor. Failure to respond may lead to further action.”
In the formal two-page letter, the agency said the video was not the only concerning material. Other old videos that have now resurfaced also showed the singer making similar statements about underage girls.
The letter added, “These actions, if true, are offences under the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act (TIPPEA) 2015 and the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015.”
Speed Darlington has been told to appear in person at NAPTIP headquarters in Abuja on Friday, May 30, by 9am. He is allowed to bring a lawyer or any documents he may need for the interview.
The agency warned that failure to honour the invitation could lead to legal action.
However, in a new video posted on Wednesday, Speed Darlington denied the story he told earlier, saying it was just a joke to promote his new song.
He said, “All my followers pissed off about the video I recorded in which I spoke about me sleeping with a 15-year-old, I am an artist. I need controversy to eat. If you are not trending, you are not getting booked. Simple!”
He added, “I have a new song now. The song is talking about f#ck this, f#ck that. This is my genre. I do not perform Christian music. When I dropped my song, I needed f#ck contents to push it. That is what I was doing.”
He also apologised to those who felt offended, saying, “If any of you are offended, it’s alright. Apologies.”
The Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency had earlier joined the call for investigations after the singer’s Instagram live video where he claimed to have slept with a 15-year-old girl 10 years ago.
This is not the first time Speed Darlington has been involved in controversy linked to minors.
In 2022, he got into an argument with his neighbour during an Instagram live video. The neighbour accused him of trying to get close to a 16-year-old girl. During that video, Speed Darlington was seen walking around with a knife, accusing the women outside his house of invading his privacy.
One of the women shouted, “You want to start messaging a 16-year-old girl, a house girl. Open this door, come out.”
In 2023, the singer also caused concern when he publicly said he was looking for a second girlfriend between the ages of 16 and 20.
Even though he now claims his latest video was just a stunt, public anger has remained strong, and many Nigerians are calling for a full investigation into his behaviour.