Simi slams twisted narratives over 2012 daycare tweets

Abdullateef Fowewe

Nigerian singer, Simi has defended decade-old tweets about playful interactions with children at her mother’s daycare, dismissing online accusations of pedophilia as malicious distortions by critics.

The controversy ignited after Simi called for harsh punishments against rapists in the high-profile Mirabel-Ezra Obed false accusation case.

Detractors dug up her 2012 posts, twisting innocent humour into something sinister to discredit her stance on sexual violence.

In an X post on Monday, Simi addressed the backlash head-on, “14 years ago, I was 23, so I was definitely not a child. I’m not here to make excuses because I don’t have anything to make excuses for. What I can’t let anyone do is twist my story to fit false narratives.”

She explained the context, “In 2012, I lived and helped out at my mom’s daycare while I was hustling my music. I tweeted everything that happened in my life, as we all did at the time. Kids can be mischievous. If a child did something I found funny, I tweeted about it.

“Kids are cute and lovable. I want to hug, kiss and cuddle them. I tweet about it. Nothing I tweeted was from perversion.”

Simi lamented the mob mentality, “I was not famous, so maybe if I was, I would have understood that anything is open to whatever interpretation including being used falsely by a faceless mob. I’ve never been depraved in my life.”

Her team has since deleted some tweets to shield her family, though she stood firm, “I’ve always spoken against rape and sexual assault even before you knew I existed. It’s not a costume I’m wearing, it’s who I am. I’ve never claimed to be perfect. I’ve never claimed to know everything. I said stop raping women. I stand by it.”