The Department of State Services (DSS) has filed a five-count criminal charge against SaharaReporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore, at the Federal High Court in Abuja, accusing him of defaming President Bola Tinubu and spreading false information through social media.
Court documents filed on September 16, 2025, by the Director of Public Prosecutions, M.B. Abubakar, allege that Sowore used his X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook accounts to describe the President as a “criminal” and accuse him of lying about tackling corruption during a recent visit to Brazil. The prosecution claims the posts were false, defamatory, and intended to incite fear and disturb public order, contrary to provisions of the Cybercrimes Amendment Act, 2024.
The charges list as evidence printouts of Sowore’s posts, letters the DSS wrote to Meta and X requesting their deletion, and his subsequent reactions to those letters. The case has yet to be assigned to a judge, and no date has been fixed for arraignment.
In response, Sowore has filed a separate suit at the Federal High Court against the DSS, Meta, and X Corp, challenging what he calls unconstitutional censorship of his accounts. Through his lawyer, Tope Temokun, he asked the court to restrain the DSS from directing social media platforms to delete his posts.
The activist argues that the actions of the DSS violate Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression. He also contends that Meta and X should not comply with directives he considers unlawful, warning that yielding to such requests undermines free speech in Nigeria.
While the DSS insists Sowore’s remarks are false and inciting, the activist maintains that his criticisms are part of his democratic right to hold leaders accountable. He has refused to delete the posts despite formal warnings from the agency.
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