Entrepreneur Sophia Momodu, mother of Nigerian singer Davido’s first child, has spoken publicly about the mockery she endured after becoming pregnant by the singer outside marriage, describing years spent finding her voice amid the scrutiny.
Momodu made the remarks during a side panel at the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, in a video she later posted to her Instagram Story.
“This is my life story. I am a pastor’s daughter who got pregnant out of wedlock by a global superstar. And I was mocked. It was crazy. And I had to find my strength in the midst of all of that,” she said.
She explained that the stigma was compounded by her upbringing, noting that in Nigerian society, a pastor’s daughter having a child outside marriage is treated as taboo.
“And for the longest time, I didn’t have a voice. I was famous, I was popular, but I didn’t have a voice. It kept getting drowned out by whatever negativity was around that story,” Momodu said.
She recalled that even within her own family, there was pressure to stay silent. An aunt, she said, once relayed a request from a friend asking her to drop the subject entirely.
“And then, an aunt called me one day and said a friend of hers had called her to talk to me to please keep quiet, because this is not a topic that we are allowed to talk about as Black women,” Momodu said.
Momodu credited another woman’s public testimony with giving her the push to speak out, saying it helped her understand that her story deserved to be heard.
“So, I needed that story to be truly understood, and I’m so grateful for Stephanie because her story gave me that platform. I felt like that put fire in my… I just kept going,” she said.
She went on to describe sharing her experience at various forums, including in South Africa, and finding that many women had lived through similar situations.
“And I just wanted to say that because of her story, Google, I’ve told my story at forums. I’ve talked about this in places like South Africa, radio stations, and it was just amazing to see that I was not alone. There were so many women that came to me and said, ‘Listen, it happened to me too,’” she said.
“And I was like, ‘Wow.’ I’m just grateful for the platform, I’m grateful to be able to tell my story, and because of people like Stephanie and these amazing women on this panel, I don’t think I would ever stop telling my story,” she added.
Momodu and Davido, whose real name is David Adeleke, had a relationship that produced their daughter, Imade Adeleke, born on May 14, 2015. DNA testing later confirmed his paternity.
The couple had intermittent periods of involvement before the relationship ended in 2022; they never married.
In early 2016, when Imade was still an infant, Momodu and her uncle, publisher Dele Momodu, alleged that Davido’s family had attempted to take the child out of the country without consent, a dispute that was eventually resolved.
Since then, both sides have traded accusations touching on financial support, access to their daughter, lifestyle claims, and public statements.
Momodu has said she carried the bulk of caregiving duties and expenses, while Davido has maintained that he met his obligations, including housing and school fees, at different points.
Tensions resurfaced in April 2024, when Davido filed a suit at the Lagos State High Court seeking joint custody and unrestricted access to Imade.
Momodu opposed the application, arguing she had never denied him access and that any gap in contact after July 2022 was his own choice.
She also raised issues around intimacy and alleged shortfalls in financial support as the case moved through hearings.
The dispute took a turn in February 2026, after a tense court session in which Momodu’s lawyer reportedly invoked the 2022 death of Davido’s son Ifeanyi, whom he had with Chioma Rowland.
Davido subsequently announced he was withdrawing the custody suit, clarifying that he had only ever sought joint, not sole, custody, and said the real loss in the situation was Imade’s.
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