Omoyele Sowore rejects DSS demand to delete posts criticizing Tinubu, citing constitutional rights and decades of harassment by security agencies.
Abuja, Nigeria – September 12, 2025:
Human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has disclosed that the Department of State Services (DSS) has sent him a formal letter demanding the deletion of his social media posts criticizing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Sowore, who shared the development on Friday, said the letter accused him of publishing “criminal, false, and malicious” content online. In his detailed response, addressed to the DSS Director General, Sowore rejected the agency’s demands, describing them as unconstitutional and politically motivated.
According to Sowore, the DSS delivered the letter to his attorney’s office in Abuja, demanding that he retract posts on Twitter (now X) and Facebook. He said the security agency is acting as “an unlawful proxy” for the President, noting that defamation claims must be filed by the aggrieved individual, not by a government security agency.
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In his reply, Sowore recalled a long history of alleged harassment and unlawful detention by Nigeria’s security services, dating back to his student activism in the 1990s. He highlighted several incidents, including arrests during protests, detentions during his National Youth Service Corps in 1996, and the 2019 DSS raid on his hotel room, where he was held over alleged treason and money laundering.
The activist argued that the DSS has repeatedly violated court orders, confiscated his personal property, and acted beyond its constitutional mandate. He accused the agency of using intimidation to suppress dissent and free speech in Nigeria.
Citing Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and international human rights rulings, Sowore maintained that his criticism of government officials is protected under freedom of expression. He noted that sedition and criminal defamation laws have been rejected in several African countries and by international courts.
Sowore further pointed to the 1985 Court of Appeal decision in Arthur Nwankwo v. State as a landmark case affirming that sedition laws are incompatible with democracy. He emphasized that criticism of government leaders is essential to accountability, adding that any grievance over defamation should be resolved through civil, not criminal, proceedings.
“Freedom of speech includes the right to say what those in power find uncomfortable,” Sowore said in his response. “The determination of the Nigerian people to reclaim their country from thieves in power is unwavering. Freedom comes by struggle.”
Sowore also reminded the DSS of his constitutional duty as a journalist and activist to hold leaders accountable. He stated that the DSS’s actions only confirm Nigeria’s slide into authoritarianism, but vowed to continue speaking out despite threats.