Nigerian singer, Simisola Bolatito Kosoko, popularly known as Simi, has responded after a 2012 tweet from her X account resurfaced online and sparked backlash.

The old post, shared on March 14, 2012, referenced a four-year-old boy named David and described him as having a crush on her.

In the now-deleted tweet sighted by Tribune Online, she mentioned the child getting physically close, acting as though he wanted to kiss her, and resting his head on her lap, while she questioned whether she should give him attention.

The viral tweet reads, “David has a crush on me. He kips comn close; actin lik he wana lock lips n den he puts his head on my lap.Shd I giv him a chance? P.S: Hes 4.”

The post recently went viral, triggering outrage from several social media users who accused the singer of sexualising a minor and called for an investigation.

In a lengthy statement shared on her X page late Sunday, Simi said she was made aware of the resurfaced tweets and felt compelled to address the issue.

She explained that she was 23 at the time and had been living and assisting at her mother’s daycare while pursuing her music career.

According to her, she often tweeted about daily experiences, including humorous moments involving children, stressing that her comments were not rooted in perversion.

She maintained that she has never engaged in depraved behaviour and rejected attempts to frame the old post within what she described as false narratives.

The singer added that she has consistently spoken against rape and sexual assault and continues to stand by her advocacy.

Simi also disclosed that members of her team had begun deleting some of the old tweets due to the sensitivity of the situation for her family, although she initially did not want them removed.

She wrote, “I haven’t been on Twitter today – but someone brought a few of my old tweets to my attention and I can’t not address it.

“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.

“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.

“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. You can retweet all the tweets in the world about me loudly crushing on people I admire/d. Or being a cheeky young woman. I wasn’t trying to hide it, because I don’t have anything to hide.

“My team has been deleting some of my tweets because of how sensitive it is for my family. To be honest, I did not want to. I have 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.” (Nigerian Tribune)