In response to a string of posts critiquing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Department of State Services (DSS) has petitioned Facebook’s owner, Meta Platforms Inc., to immediately deactivate Omoyele Sowore’s verified account.
Sowore is a popular Nigerian activist and former 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC).
In a statement released on Monday, Sowore revealed the move and called the DSS “lawless, idle, and incompetent,” accusing the secret police of stepping aside from their responsibility to protect Nigerians in favour of serving as “Tinubu’s social media police.”
“Lawless DSS, too idle and incompetent to secure Nigeria, where over 130 citizens were killed just yesterday, has now written to Facebook begging them to delete content they find ‘offensive’ to their equally idle, tired, and criminal Commander-in-Chief, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Sowore wrote on X and Facebook.
In a letter dated September 7, 2025, sent to Meta’s Menlo Park, California, headquarters, the DSS accused Sowore of using his Facebook page to spread “misleading information” and “inciting violence” against Tinubu.
The petition, signed by Uwem Davies, for the Director-General of the DSS, cited Sowore’s August 26 post in which he wrote: “This criminal @officialABAT actually went to Brazil to state that there is NO MORE corruption under his regime in Nigeria. What audacity to lie shamelessly!”
The DSS said the post violated the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022, the Cybercrimes Act 2025, and the Criminal Code Act, which was defamatory and could destabilise Nigeria.
The said post is circulating and has attracted widespread condemnation by most Nigerians. It is causing both online and offline tension across the country, thereby creating political tension and threatening the country’s national security.
This is in addition to the disparaging effect the post has on the reputation of Mr. President and the country before the comity of nations,” the DSS told Meta.
It asserted that the laws forbid the dissemination of intentionally deceptive content, fake news, or false information, as well as offensive or indecent posts meant to cause embarrassment, humiliation, or incite hatred toward any ethnicity, religion, or tribe.
The DSS emphasised that inflammatory publications against the President are subject to these provisions and added that the author and the platform used to distribute such content are criminally liable.
It said, “The post under reference has crossed the boundaries of decency and acceptable behaviour, and the Government has frowned at this hazardous and false privacy violation that manipulates and negatively impacts the person of the President and the Country.”
It said, “It is not in doubt that the words employed by Mr. Omoyele Sowore are misleading information, online harassment and abuse. It is also a willful intention to further an ideology capable of serious harm, hate speech, cause disunity, discredit/disparage the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria within the Comity of Nations, to damage the image of Nigeria and cause a serious threat to national security of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
“It is against the above highlighted backdrop that we make an immediate and urgent demand on your corporation, to, as a matter of its own policy, immediately TAKE DOWN the post and its attendant shares,” DSS emphasised.
Sowore’s lawyer writes to Meta to disregard DSS’s requests
After the Department of State Services (DSS) demanded that Sowore’s Facebook account be banned or deactivated, Sowore wrote to Meta via his lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, to request that the request be denied.
Effiong said, “The autocratic demand by the SSS is not only legally unfounded, it poses danger to the sacrosanct and the constitutionally protected right to freedom of expression.”
“In our letter to Meta, we have demonstrated that the laws cited by the SSS are inapplicable and irrelevant.”
“We have also shown that the post referenced by the SSS does not violate Meta’s Community Standards.”
Part of the letter reads: “It is imperative to state that the President of Nigeria, Mr. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whom the SSS is unlawfully, wrongfully and mischievously holding brief for, has not initiated any legal action against our client.”
“If he feels that he has a reputation capable of being defamed, Mr. Tinubu should seek legal redress in court and put his character to the test. It is the height of impunity for an agency established by law to ensure the internal security of Nigeria to sycophantically deploy its instrumentality for the personal aggrandisement of a politician and a public office holder who is paid with public funds.”
“We enjoin Meta to see the sinister demand by the SSS for what it truly is: an egregious effort to massage the ego of the Nigerian President; an effort predicated on grounds that are legally unfounded in an attempt to undermine Nigeria’s democratic journey and foist tyranny on the country.”
“In view of the foregoing, we passionately urge Meta Platforms Inc. to reject the demand made by the SSS for the ban/deactivation of our Client’s Facebook account(s), as it is an attempt by the SSS to censor our Client’s voice.
“We urge Meta to uphold the right to freedom of expression, which is part of the values Meta should be associated with.”
“Acquiescing to the unlawful and draconian demands of the SSS will set a dangerous precedent and embolden the government to further clamp down on dissenting voices.”
Human rights groups wade in
Techpression reported on Sunday that the Department of State Services (DSS) has equally petitioned X’s management to deactivate activist and publisher Omoyele Sowore’s verified account immediately due to a post deemed a national security threat.
However, Amnesty International (AI) has cautioned the Department of State Services (DSS) to reverse its startling demand that human rights advocate Omoyele Sowore’s post critical of President Bola Tinubu be removed from X.
“Nigerian authorities’ demand for the deactivation of Sowore’s X account goes too far, and is outrageous, while clearly showing a desperate attempt at censorship and abuse of power,” Amnesty International stated.
It added, “The DSS targeting of Sowore’s X account is being done without any legal justification, as recognised under international human rights law and that this represents a violation of Nigeria’s obligations under the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Nigeria has ratified both human rights treaties.”
“Nigerian authorities must refrain from violating human rights online, including the rights to freedom of expression and privacy and fulfil their constitutional and international human rights obligations.”
“On its part, X must not yield to censorship demands of the Nigerian government, through targeting of the voices of activists, and must do all in its power to protect freedom of expression on its platform,” AI warned.
On its part, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) stated that, “President Tinubu should direct Nigeria’s State Security Service (SSS, also known as DSS) to immediately withdraw the implied threat to ban X (formerly Twitter) in Nigeria over a tweet by journalist Omoyele Sowore.”
It continued, “The threat against X, if carried out, would amount to collective punishment and a crackdown on access to social media and have a chilling effect on the exercise of Nigerians’ rights to freedom of expression, media freedom, and access to information online.”
It added, “Freedom of expression is indeed a fundamental right which is protected under section 39 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Nigeria is a state party.”
SERAP vows to seek legal redress if the DSS does not immediately retract its threat.