Nigerian Singer Davido Sued Over Intellectual Property Theft, Accused of Using Stolen Track for ‘Strawberry on Ice’

The legal landscape for Nigerian superstar Davido has become increasingly complicated as he faces a lawsuit in the United States. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has ordered Davido to appear before it within 21 days, following claims that he infringed on the intellectual property of a group of Nigerian artists.

The plaintiffs in the case, Martins Chukwuka Emmanuel, Abel Great Umaru, Kelvin Ayodele Campbell, and David Ovhioghena Umaru, allege that Davido stole their 2022 song Work and used it to create his 2024 track Strawberry on Ice.

According to court filings, the issue began in January 2022 when the plaintiffs, seeking a major break in the music industry, sent a demo of Work to Davido. The demo was intended as part of a potential collaboration, but instead, the plaintiffs claim Davido took the song without their permission and used it in his own project.

They allege that Emmerson (Emmerson Amidu Bockarie), who featured on Strawberry on Ice, took instrumental and vocal elements from Work to create a new version of the song.

In an attempt to resolve the matter privately, the plaintiffs reached out to Davido, but it wasn’t until months later that they were able to make contact. In March 2025, they reportedly reached an agreement where Davido would pay $45,000 in compensation and grant the plaintiffs a share of the royalties—40% for composition and 20% for the sound recording. However, Davido allegedly failed to meet the payment deadline of March 24, prompting the plaintiffs to file the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs are now seeking $150,000 in damages and a transfer of 40% of the compositional rights and 20% of the sound recording rights for Strawberry on Ice to the original creators. They are also asking the court to prevent Davido and the other defendants from infringing on their intellectual property in the future.

Representatives for Davido and Wynn Records have yet to respond to inquiries regarding the case.