The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has placed Nigerian rapper Darlington Okoye, popularly known as Speed Darlington, on a watchlist after he failed to respond to the agency’s invitation to its Abuja headquarters.
NAPTIP’s Director, Legal and Prosecution Department, Ijeoma Mary Amugo, made the announcement at a press conference in Abuja today, November 24.
The Allegations and Status
The controversial singer was declared wanted on June 27, 2025, for alleged r*pe, cyberbullying, and cyberstalking, stemming from his alleged social media claim of having sexual relations with a 15-year-old girl. Speed Darlington had subsequently filed a lawsuit against the agency.
The NAPTIP Director noted that the singer tried to intimidate the agency and that they have been unable to physically locate him:
“So what he did was to preemptively try to intimidate us by going to the social media to say that he wouldn’t come and that he wouldn’t respond to us, that we are kind of sitting on his human rights. So we tried our best to physically locate him because you have to locate the suspect before justice will be served.”
She confirmed the rapper is believed to be outside the country, forcing the agency to place him on a watchlist:
“So, as I’m speaking to you, the last report we have is that he’s outside the country and we have not heard from him yet. We have placed him on watch list. Anytime he enters Nigeria, NAPTIP is going to continue the investigation from where we stopped. So that is the status of the case for now.”