By Obinna Uballa
Mr Omoyele Sowore, human rights activist and former presidential candidate, has vowed not to bow to pressure from the Department of State Services (DSS) to delete a social media post describing President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal.”
This comes after the DSS filed a five-count charge against him, alongside social media platforms X Corp and Meta Platforms Inc., at the Federal High Court in Abuja. The suit, dated September 16, 2025, was filed after Sowore allegedly refused to comply with DSS’s request to take down the post.
The charges were brought on behalf of the DSS and the Federal Government by M.B. Abubakar, Director of Public Prosecutions at the Federal Ministry of Justice, supported by four DSS counsel: M.E. Ernest, U.B. Bulla, Dr. C.S. Eze, and E.G. Orubor.
Reacting on Facebook, Sowore, the Publisher of Sahara reporters, a New York based digital mewspaper, wrote, “The State Security Service, alias @OfficialDSSNG, today filed a 5-count charge at the Federal High Court in Abuja against ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and myself. They claimed that because I called Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu a criminal, I have somehow committed a set of ‘novel’ offences they invented and spread across five counts.”
He described the case as baseless but pledged to appear in court whenever it is assigned for trial, declaring, “It’s hard to believe there’s anyone sensible left in these offices that should be making Nigeria work. Regardless, I will be present whenever this case is assigned for trial. #RevolutionNow.”
Sowore further revealed that X contacted him to inform him about the DSS’s formal request to remove the tweet, but he insisted that deleting it was not an option.
“This morning, X (formerly Twitter) officially contacted me about the despicable threat letter they received from the lawless DSS over my tweet on Tinubu. One option I will NOT be taking is deleting that Tweet.”
The message from X, which Sowore shared publicly, confirmed receipt of a legal request from the DSS regarding his account but stated that no action had been taken on the content.
According to Sowore, X assured him that it strongly supports free expression, while advising him to seek legal counsel or explore other options in response to the DSS’s complaint.
The case is expected to be scheduled for trial in Abuja.
