The Department of State Services (DSS) has filed a five-count charge against former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore, alongside X Corp and Meta, over posts critical of President Bola Tinubu. Sowore has refused to delete the content, citing his commitment to free expression
The Department of State Services (DSS) has escalated its standoff with human rights activist and former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore, filing a five-count charge against him alongside global social media giants X Corp and Meta Incorporation. The charges stem from posts critical of President Bola Tinubu, which Sowore has refused to delete.
The case, dated September 16, 2025, was lodged at the Federal High Court in Abuja by the Director of Public Prosecutions at the Federal Ministry of Justice, M.B. Abubakar, with four other DSS lawyers — M.E. Ernest, U.B. Bulla, Dr. C.S. Eze, and E.G. Orubor.
Confirming the development in a Facebook post, Sowore 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. 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.
Earlier, PUNCH Online reported that Sowore had rejected a DSS request to delete the controversial tweet about Tinubu. In a follow-up post on Tuesday, Sowore reaffirmed his defiance:
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. Thank you, @X.
He also published a message from X Corp, which confirmed receipt of a legal request from the DSS regarding his account. The platform, however, clarified that it had not acted on the reported content.
X Corp wrote:
Hello @YeleSowore. In the interest of transparency, we are writing to inform you that X has received a request from the Department of State Services regarding your X account, @YeleSowore, that claims the following content violates the law(s) of Nigeria. @YeleSowore, we have not taken any action on the reported content at this time as a result of this request.
(PUNCH)
Edited by Aremu Toyeebaht
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