Upcoming Nigerian rapper Oladipupo Oladimeji, known by fans as Oladips, has apologised for his false death announcement, which triggered a backlash from fans.
Oladips, who was a guest on a local radio station, Naija FM, at the weekend, in Lagos, Nigeria, said he did not mean to cause harm or upset his fans.
"To Nigerians and my core followers, I would never play with people's emotions like that; I was actually sick. It was never a prank, and I am really sorry for the false alarm and the distress,’’ he said in the interview clip posted on X.
Oladips alarmed fans on November 11 after his friends posted a video of them wailing over his ‘’corpse’’ and begging him ‘’come back’’. His label officially announced his death a few hours later.
Not publicity stunt
The 28-year-old said he was ‘’unconscious’’ and ‘’unresponsive’’ leading to the conclusion from his friends that he had died.
He was heavily criticised on social media for playing a cruel publicity stunt and riling up emotions after he came back online one week later to say he was alive.
It was particularly traumatising for music fans in the country, as they had just lost Mohbad, another fast-rising singer, barely two months earlier in controversial circumstances.
‘’I take full responsibility. And from now on, I will make sure that I'm surrounded by professionals because that's where the problem started from," Oladips said in the interview clip.
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