‘We Cannot Ignore This’, Lagos Agency Refers Simi’s Tweets To Police For Probe

The Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA) has referred the resurfaced tweets allegedly linked to singer Simi to the Commissioner of Police for a preliminary investigation.

The agency’s Executive Secretary, Lola Vivour-Adeniyi, made this known on Thursday during an appearance on Channels Television, stating that the agency could not overlook the allegations circulating online.

The issue began after Simi posted comments on X condemning rape, urging men to stop raping women and stating that “almost every woman she knows has been sexually assaulted.” The remarks quickly generated widespread online reactions.

Soon after, screenshots of old tweets allegedly dating back to 2012 and 2013 surfaced on social media. Some of the posts were said to reference children at her mother’s daycare facility, including comments 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 resurfaced posts drew sharp criticism from some users, who described them as inappropriate and accused the singer of misconduct, sparking intense debate across platforms.

In response, Simi addressed the controversy on her social media page, explaining that the tweets reflected her youthful expressions at the time and her experiences assisting at her mother’s daycare. She insisted that the posts were not written “from perversion” and argued that they had been misinterpreted and taken out of context.

Reacting to the situation, Vivour-Adeniyi said the agency had been monitoring developments around what some online commentators have dubbed “Simi Gates and Simi Darlington”, following the circulation of tweets said to date back to 2012 and 2014.

“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 disclosed that the agency 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.

She added that the state’s safeguarding taskforce had also been notified.

“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.

She emphasised that the agency was obligated to initiate preliminary inquiries in such matters, explaining that any potential prosecution would depend on the existence 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.

The development has continued to generate reactions online, with supporters and critics debating both the resurfaced posts and the singer’s subsequent explanation, as authorities proceed with preliminary investigations.