Speed Darlington dropped by lawyers following release from prison | Pulse Nigeria

A week after controversial Nigerian singer Speed Darlington’s release from detention, his legal team has now announced that they are no longer representing him.

On January 26, 2025, the lawyer, Stan Alieke, announced this on his Instagram story, saying “I and my law firm (Law Capitol) have officially withdrawn from legally representing Mr Darlington Achakpo, AKA Speed Darlington/Akpi and henceforth ceasing to act as his legal attorneys.” Alieke also exclusively confirmed the split in an update to Pulse Nigeria.

The severed tie comes after a series of turbulent events involving the controversial singer, who was arrested on October 4th after he put out a video in which he allegedly mocked his colleague Burna Boy, associating him with American rapper Diddy, who has faced legal issues with the FBI over charges of sex trafficking and other crimes.

After being released, he was then rearrested on Wednesday, November 27, 2024, during a show in Owerri and was in detention for two months. Darlington’s freedom came days after he was admitted to a twenty million naira (20,000,000) bail by a federal high court in Abuja.

Alieke then confirmed his release, sharing photos with Darlington on Instagram and announcing that they will be seeking redress against the Nigerian police following their client’s “illegal incarceration.”

After his release, Darlington took to his Instagram page on Thursday, January 23, 2025, and posted a video of two bulls and captioned it simply, “I am back!“

In the video, he was heard saying, “Two bulls fighting. One steps back. It’s not running away. It went back to gather energy and launch back with banger.” However some social media users speculated that the post had something to do with his rift with Burna Boy.