LAGOS — A long-running paternity dispute linked to Afrobeats star David Adeleke (Davido) resurfaced on Thursday after a 12-year-old girl, Mitchelle Anuoluwapo, posted a public appeal on Instagram asking the singer to take a DNA test to confirm whether he is her biological father.
In the post, the girl said she was approaching her teenage years and wanted clarity about her identity, describing the emotional strain of the unresolved claim. She alleged she had been bullied since primary school over her insistence that Davido is her father and said the situation contributed to what she described as “mental anguish,” adding that she sought professional support to protect her mental health.
Framing the request as personal, she asked Davido to submit to a DNA test and said she had also sent the message directly to his account. She thanked Nigerians who, she said, had offered emotional support over several years.
Davido responded publicly in the comment section of the Instagram post, rejecting the claim and asserting he had already undergone multiple paternity tests. “I’ve taken 5 DNA tests, all negative. I am not your father,” he wrote, according to local reports.
The singer also posted on X (formerly Twitter), reiterating that the tests were conducted at different medical facilities and urging the girl and her mother to stop pursuing the allegation. In subsequent posts, he accused the girl’s mother of misconduct and suggested she should face legal consequences, while saying he did not blame the child.
The renewed exchange follows earlier public interventions tied to the controversy. In January 2025, Davido’s former lawyer, Prince Bobo Ajudua, said DNA tests had been carried out at “two reputable hospitals,” including one reportedly selected by the girl’s family, and that the results showed Davido was not the father.
The saga has periodically trended on Nigerian social media, with the child’s online accounts and posts drawing fresh attention to the claim at intervals.
Neither Davido nor the girl’s family presented documentary evidence of the alleged test results in the posts cited by the reports. As of Thursday night, there was no indication of any new court filing or formal legal process connected to the latest request, beyond the public exchanges on social media.
