NAPTIP Considers Legal Action: The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) is considering legal action against Nigerian entertainer Darlington Okoye, known as Speed Darlington, after he failed to respond to a formal summons to appear at the agency’s Abuja headquarters on Friday, May 30. The summons followed widespread backlash over a viral Instagram video in which Okoye claimed to have had sexual relations with a 15-year-old girl.
The invitation, dated Wednesday, May 28, and signed by Ngamaraju Mangzha, Head of NAPTIP’s Cybercrime Response Team, required Okoye to report to the agency’s Wuse Zone 5 office by 9:00 a.m. on Friday. By midday, officials confirmed that he had not shown up. “As of now, we are still waiting. If we don’t see him, we will take action based on the notice issued. The last paragraph is very clear,” an official said.
Another agency representative, speaking anonymously, added that Okoye had neither communicated nor provided any explanation for his absence. “We issued a statement summoning him to appear at 09:00 a.m. It is evening now and we are still waiting. Maybe he had a delayed flight. He has not communicated officially with us.”
The case came under NAPTIP’s jurisdiction after the Lagos State Government escalated it due to jurisdictional limitations. The agency explained that immediately after the video surfaced, people tagged both NAPTIP and Lagos authorities. Since the Lagos zonal commander could not establish the offence occurred in Lagos, they referred the matter to NAPTIP, which has national jurisdiction.
The Instagram video, released on Tuesday, May 27, showed Okoye claiming to have slept with a “15-year-old virgin,” widely seen as an admission of statutory rape. Lagos State promptly referred the case to NAPTIP.
Still on NAPTIP Considers Legal Action
In the formal invitation, NAPTIP stated: “We write to formally invite you to appear before the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons regarding certain video materials recently circulated online, including but not limited to a particular Instagram video wherein you allegedly admitted to engaging in sexual acts with an underage girl. Additional archived videos now in circulation similarly contain admissions and degrading commentary concerning minors. These actions, if substantiated, constitute offences under the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act 2015, and the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015.”
The letter invited Okoye for an interview on Friday, May 30, 2025, at 9 a.m. at NAPTIP Headquarters in Abuja, requesting him to bring legal representation or relevant documents. It warned that failure to attend “may result in further legal action.”
NAPTIP’s Chief Press Officer, Adekoye Vincent, confirmed that the agency’s Director-General, Binta Bello, is closely monitoring the matter. “We are concerned. Our DG is seriously concerned. She’s monitoring the situation by the hour. Why? Because it involves a minor, the human rights of the minor, and sexual abuse. Anything could have happened to that girl,” he said.
He also noted Okoye was not under duress, pointing to a subsequent video in which Okoye joked that if he had known the uproar the 15-year-old would cause, he would have targeted a 12-year-old instead.
When asked if the agency would arrest Okoye or hand over the case to the police, Adekoye said, “His failure to appear will determine our next steps within the law. It is clear. It may be prosecution or arrest, but whatever it is, we are very concerned.”
Meanwhile, amid growing public outrage, Isaac Fayose, brother of former Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose, disclosed that the girl in the video plans to file a formal police complaint. Speed Darlington later claimed the video was a “publicity stunt” to promote his music, describing it as “a prank” and saying, “I need controversy to eat.”
However, the retraction did little to quell public anger, with critics and women’s rights advocates condemning the trivialization of child sexual abuse as deeply dangerous and socially unacceptable.
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