An old video by controversial musician Darlington Okoye, aka Speed Darlington, condemning sex with minors has resurfaced amid his latest claim of defiling a 15-year-old girl.
The singer on Tuesday provoked outrage following an Instagram Live session where he mocked some hotel workers made to clean bedsheet stained by the blood from a minor he claimed to have defiled. In the video, Mr Darlington claimed to have given the girl #2000 after the act.
Mr Darlington, in an old video now circulating online, earlier advocated that perpetrators of rape should be made to face 12 years’ imprisonment for attempts, including ‘irregular touching,’ and a minimum of 25 years’ imprisonment on charges of rape.
“If I hear you touch somebody under 18, 16, 17; irregular touching, twelve years minimum. If you have tried sex, rape, even if she says yes, but you’re an adult and you’re supposed to know better that an old man is not supposed to be sleeping with a sixteen-year-old (then) twenty-five years’ imprisonment. You are never coming home,” Mr Darlington said.
Another video, shot in 2022 also resurfaced, showing a confrontation scene between him while holding a knife and two women at his residence. One of the women in the video slammed Mr Darlington for messaging a 16-year-old girl, described as a ‘house girl.’
Responding to the latest public outrage, Mr Darlington on Wednesday arrogantly apologized to fans offended by the claim, stating that the video was merely to promote his upcoming song and not a confession.
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! Nobody is booking something that is not trending. 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. Don’t give it more like than it is supposed to have. If any of you are offended, it is alright. Apologies.”
The Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency acknowledging the video, on Thursday, stated that it had escalated the claim of the alleged rape accordingly to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), because the location of the incident could not be ascertained.
The Child Rights Act (2003) guarantees the interest of every child, prohibiting sexual intercourse and other forms of sexual exploitation.
Despite denying the confession and apologising amidst public outrage, no statement from the police regarding action taken about the matter.
