Human rights activist and SaharaReporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore, has taken the Department of State Services (DSS), Meta (Facebookâs parent company), and X Corp. (formerly Twitter) to court. He accuses them of unconstitutional censorship of his social media accounts after some of his posts critical of President Bola Tinubu were targeted.
Through his lawyer, Tope Temokun, Sowore is asking the Federal High Court in Abuja to stop the DSS from pressuring global platforms to delete his postsâespecially one where he referred to Tinubu as a âcriminal.â He argues that such censorship violates Section 39 of Nigeriaâs 1999 Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression for every citizen.
According to Sowore, allowing state security agencies to dictate what Nigerians can or cannot say online is a dangerous precedent. He insists that democracy cannot survive if political criticism is silenced at the whim of those in power. His lawyer further stressed that Meta and X become complicit when they bow to unlawful demands, warning that such compliance fuels digital authoritarianism.
Sowore is seeking a declaration that the DSS has no authority to censor Nigerians on social media, and that Meta and X must not allow their platforms to become tools of repression. âToday it is Sowore; tomorrow it may be you,â his camp warned, framing the suit as a fight for principle rather than personality.
Meanwhile, the DSS has filed a five-count criminal charge against Sowore at the Federal High Court in Abuja, accusing him of defaming Tinubu by calling him a criminal and publishing âfalse, malicious, and incitingâ posts. The charges, filed on September 16, 2025, are yet to be assigned to a judge or given a trial date.
Despite mounting pressure, Sowore has refused to retract his comments. He maintains that his criticism of Tinubu is both truthful and part of his constitutional duty to hold leaders accountable. Over the years, Sowore has faced several arrests and legal battles over his activism, but this case highlights a bigger fightâwhether Nigeria is sliding towards digital dictatorship or standing firm on free speech.
