Tiwa Savage files police complaint against Davido over alleged threats

Afrobeats star Tiwa Savage has asked police in Nigeria for “urgent intervention,” in a complaint letter filed Tuesday against Grammy-nominated musician Davido that was circulated widely on social media.

Police launched an investigation on Tuesday after receiving the hand-delivered letter at its headquarters in the Lagos State city of Ikeja, according to a spokesman for the Nigeria Police Force, who confirmed to CNN that the complaint letter was written by Savage.

In the petition to Nigeria’s Commissioner of Police, the “Koroba” singer, whose real name is Tiwatope Omolara Savage, detailed what she described as a “distressing situation” between herself and David Adedeji Adeleke, popularly known as Davido.

Savage wrote that on December 23, she uploaded an Instagram story that included herself and internet personality Sophia Momodu, the mother of Davido’s first child.

After that, she said, Davido “sent messages to my manager who’s also part of his management team that I shouldn’t worry and should never say a word to him and that I was taunting him, uttering very disrespectful, malicious and derogatory words to my person.”

She said she responded to Davido’s message “and told him not to reach out to me especially as I feel like I have been there for him and his daughter, Imade and more importantly when he lost his son.”

Davido’s 3-year-old son, Ifeanyi Adeleke, died on Halloween in 2022. He is believed to have drowned in the pool of the star’s home in the upscale Lagos neighborhood of Banana Island, while Davido and his now-wife, Chioma Rowland, were not at home.

Savage went on to say that the events of December 23 “have also led to a barrage of calls and messages from our mutual connections, asking me what I did to MR. DAVID ADELEKE that he’s upset that I choose to maintain a relationship with Imade’s mother, Sophia Momodu who he’s having issues with and also painting the exchange to look like I was the aggressor.”

“He has also told our mutual connections to warn me to ‘becareful in Lagos because he was going to f**k me up,’” she continued.

Savage added, “This is beginning to feel like some form of online and offline harassment not just to me but also members of my team.”

She described Davido’s actions as “unethical and can be viewed as a direct threat to my rights to life, privacy and dignity of my person.”

CNN has reached out to Davido’s representatives for comment.

The apparent dispute with Davido came as Amazon Studios announced Wednesday that Savage will star in the Nigerian movie “Water and Garri,” which will air on Prime Video worldwide this year.

In her acting debut, Savage plays Aisha, an ambitious fashion designer who reconnects with loved ones and confronts guilt upon her return home after 10 years living in the United States, according to a press statement.

The film, on which Savage was executive producer, was shot in the city of Cape Coast in Ghana and includes music by the artist.

Savage previously co-wrote and performed two tracks on the “The Lion King: The Gift,” the soundtrack created by Beyoncé for Disney’s 2019 remake of “The Lion King.”

The Nigerian singer, who in 2018 became the first woman to win the MTV Europe Music Awards in the Best African Act category, signed a global deal with Universal Music Group in 2019.

The following year, she featured on Davido’s song “Tanana,” and in December 2021, she performed at the “A decade of Davido” concert in Lagos, where videos on social media showed her revealing that she once shared an apartment with her fellow music star after moving back to Nigeria from London.

Davido, who released his fourth studio album, “Timeless,” last year is due to kick off his album tour in London on January 28.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com