No, Nigerian singer Davido was not arrested in Abuja for threatening police chief and attempted murder
IN SHORT: Multiple Facebook posts claim that Nigerian artist Davido has been arrested in Abuja for attempted murder and threatening a police chief. The claim is false.
Singer David Adeleke, better known as Davido, has been arrested in the Nigerian capital of Abuja for attempted murder and threatening the police chief in Osun state. That's according to a post published on a public Facebook group with over 94,600 members.
Osun state is in southwest Nigeria.
"Breaking: Davido Arrested in Abuja Over Alleged Threat to Osun State IG, Faces Transfer to Prison for Attempted Murder," the post reads.
The post links to an article that claims: "Davido was taken into custody late Tuesday evening at a private residence in Abuja. Authorities claim that the arrest was based on credible intelligence suggesting that the singer had made violent threats against the Osun State IG during a heated dispute."
The same claim can also be found here and here. (Note: See more instances listed at the end of the report.)
Osun state politics
The post uses the acronym "IG", which refers to the inspector general of police, the overall head of the Nigerian police. The police chief in Osun state is the commissioner of police, Mohammed Abba.
Davido's uncle Ademola Adeleke is the governor of Osun state. Davido made a series of strong-worded comments on social media about a political crisis over local governments in the state.
Shortly before leaving office as Osun state governor in 2022, Adegboyega Oyetola conducted local government elections, which candidates of his party, the All Progressives Congress, won.
However, a court ruling removed the local government officials before Adeleke of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) took office and set up caretaker committees to run the local councils.
A court of appeal ruling on 10 February 2025 nullified the 2022 ruling that sacked the local council officials. However, the state government went ahead with the local government election on 22 February 2025. The PDP won in all 30 local government areas.
In a press conference, Adeleke accused Oyetola of using the heads of security agencies in the state, including Abba, to forcefully reinstate the sacked local council officials. Adeleke claims security agents take orders from Oyetola because he is president Bola Tinubu's nephew.
Davido criticised and insulted Abba on the social media platform X. In one tweet, Davido wrote: "Mr Umar abba osun state commissioner u are a disgrace to ur children !! !!! Game on FUCKER !!!! All of us go mad together !! Werey."
In another post, Davido said: "Mr commissioner respect the rule of law!!! You are not madder or crazier than us !! Make we all kuku mad !! MEN MOUNT WALAI TO KRF!!! I will post u everyday everywhere Mr man !!! Try me fucker."
Was Davido arrested for tweeting these and more? We checked.
No evidence of the claim
Davido, a Grammy nominated singer, has 16.4 million followers on X and 29.4 million on Instagram.
If he was indeed arrested for threatening a police chief or attempted murder, it would've made headlines.
We found multiple news reports on Davido's comments on the Osun political crisis but no mention of him getting arrested. Such selective media coverage is unlikely.
Davido apologised and praised Abba
Later, in a series of tweets titled My Take on Osun CP, NPF and Forthcoming LG Elections, Davido noted that he initially failed to recognise the efforts of Abba and other security agents to keep Osun state peaceful amid the crisis.
Further review of political development in Osun state revealed more facts which include several genuine efforts of the state security agencies including the state Commissioner of Police. The bloodshed of today infuriated me so much that I heaped all the blame on the Commissioner of Police. I now see that the issue is more than that of the Commissioner of Police or other security chiefs. The needless killings of today angered me so deeply that I thought such should have been nipped in the bud. Yet, I can see that the security agencies led by the Commissioner of Police put in their best and deserve commendation.In memories of the innocent souls lost, human emotions overwhelmed me and many of my friends around. We did not know the Commissioner of Police had been having sleepless nights alongside other commanders. At this point, the contributions of the police commissioner were not fully appreciated by me. This is a grave oversight and I want to declare that his support for rule of law and protection of peace in Osun state is hereby acknowledged and appreciated.
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There is no evidence of the Nigerian police arresting or pressing charges against Davido. The claim is false.
The false claim was also posted here, here, here, here and here.
