All Progressives Congress (APC) praise singer, Dauda Kahutu, a.k.a Rarara, has criticised Afrobeats superstar, David Adeleke, a.k.a. Davido, over the latter’s global campaign for the release of abducted schoolchildren in Oyo State, accusing the singer of politicising insecurity and exposing Nigeria’s security challenges on the international stage.
Rarara made the remarks in a video message posted on verified his Facebook page on Tuesday evening, following Davido’s appearance at the 2026 FIFA World Cup Countdown Concert held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, United States on Wednesday, June 10.
During the event, the Afrobeats superstar stepped on stage wearing a custom black leather outfit designed by stylist Hollyandroo. The leather moto jacket featured lapels bearing the names of more than 40 abducted schoolchildren and teachers from Nigeria’s Oyo State while the message “BRING THEM HOME” was boldly inscribed across the back in white graffiti-style lettering. The outfit quickly became one of the most talked-about moments of the concert, which marked the official countdown to the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament being co-hosted by US, Mexico and Canada.
Reacting to the gesture, Rarara, who spoke in Hausa language, accused Davido of turning a sensitive security matter into a political issue on a global stage.
“What Davido exhibited was a crude behaviour. How can you go and expose Nigeria’s secrets to the world? Why will he give publicity to insurgents?” he said.
He argued that publicising the kidnapping incident on a global platform could undermine efforts by security agencies to secure the victims’ release.
“The insurgents kidnapped these students to force the security operatives to release their people, and our government is insisting on not releasing them while trying to free the children. At this critical stage, he went to expose our security issue globally during the World Cup,” Rarara said.
The ruling APC praise singer further alleged that Davido’s action was politically motivated because of his family’s association with the opposition in Osun State.
“Just because his uncle is vying for re-election in an opposition party and Tinubu is in the APC, he printed the names of the kidnapped students and went to showcase them in America. What he did was akin to derobing one’s mother and taking a picture and publicly announcing it in the marketplace,” he stated.
Rarara also claimed that widespread publicity of kidnapping incidents could embolden criminal groups by amplifying their activities.
“When you have a huge following on social media and provide a platform for insurgent activities, it only makes things worse. If a small kidnapper abducts someone and little attention is paid, once a content creator with thousands of followers repost it, bigger insurgents may become involved, making the situation worse,” he said.
Drawing from personal experience, Rarara recounted the kidnapping of his own mother, claiming that a public statement by opposition leader and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar calling for her release complicated the situation at the time.
“I am a living witness because when my mother was kidnapped, it remained only a few days for her release to be secured when Atiku Abubakar publicly called for her release. Because of that, it took several more days before she was released. So his public statement led to more harm than good,” he said.
Defending his recent visit to political officeholders in Abuja alongside some members of Kannnywood, Rarara maintained that the current administration had made significant progress in tackling insurgency but stressed that many security operations require confidentiality.
“This administration has made massive strides in the fight against insurgency, but security efforts require secrecy. It is not every detail of their actions that can be shared publicly, but some of us were privileged to learn about some of their recent achievements during a courtesy visit to the National Assembly and the Office of the National Security Adviser,” he added.
As of the time of filing this report, Davido had not publicly responded to Rarara’s verbal attack even though many netizens in the comment section took a swipe at the APC praise singer over his attack on ‘Omo Baba Olowo’ crooner, challenging the Kano-based singer to relay his message to the Afrobeats superstar in English language.
