Human rights activist and SaharaReporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore, has sued the Department of State Services (DSS), Meta (owners of Facebook), and X Corp. (formerly Twitter) at the Federal High Court in Abuja, challenging what he described as unconstitutional censorship of his social media accounts.
In a suit filed on his behalf by his lawyer, Tope Temokun, Sowore asked the court to restrain the DSS from directing global social media platforms to delete his posts, including one in which he referred to President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal.”
“These suits were filed to challenge the unconstitutional censorship initiated by the DSS/SSS against Sowore’s accounts maintained with Meta and X,” a statement signed by Temokun on Tuesday, said.
“The lawsuit states categorically that this is about the survival of free speech in Nigeria. If state agencies can dictate to global platforms who may speak and what may be said, then no Nigerian is safe, their voices will be silenced at the whim of those in power.”
He argued that censorship of political criticism was alien to democracy, citing Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression.
“The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in Section 39, guarantees every citizen the right to freedom of expression, without interference. No security agency, no matter how powerful, can suspend or delete those rights,” the statement said.
“Meta and X must also understand this: when they bow to unlawful censorship demands, they become complicit in the suppression of liberty. They cannot hide behind neutrality while authoritarianism is exported onto their platforms.”
The suit seeks declarations that the DSS has no legal authority to censor Nigerians on social media, that Meta and X must not allow their platforms to be used as tools of repression, and that Sowore’s rights and those of other Nigerians be fully protected against unlawful interference.
“We call on all lovers of freedom, journalists, human rights defenders and the Nigerian people to stand firm. Today it is Sowore; tomorrow it may be you,” it said.
“This struggle is not about personalities. It is about principle. And we shall resist every attempt to turn Nigeria into a digital dictatorship.”
Sowore, a former presidential candidate, has frequently clashed with security agencies over his criticisms of successive Nigerian governments.
Earlier on Tuesday, the DSS filed criminal charges against Sowore at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Also named as the 1st and 2nd defendants in the suit are X Corp. (owners of the social media platform X) and Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook.
Court documents show that the DSS filed a five-count charge at the registry of the Federal High Court, accusing Sowore of defaming President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by calling him a “criminal.”
The charges, however, have not yet been assigned to any judge.
Also, no date has been fixed for Sowore’s arraignment.
The charges were filed on September 16, 2025, by M.B. Abubakar, Esq., Director of Public Prosecutions at the Federal Ministry of Justice (FMOJ), together with other counsel listed as M.E. Ernest, Esq., U.B. Bulla, Esq., C.S. Eze, and E.G. Orubor, Esq.
According to court documents, the DSS listed its exhibits as: a printout of the defendant’s tweet, a printout of the defendant’s Facebook post, a letter to X, a letter to Facebook, and the defendant’s subsequent posts regarding those letters.
The prosecution also indicated that additional evidence may be presented during the trial.
According to the charge sheet obtained by SaharaReporters, Counts One and Two accuse him of using his official X (Twitter) handle and Facebook page on August 25 and 26, 2025, to call President Bola Tinubu a “criminal” and accuse him of lying about ending corruption in Nigeria.
The prosecution alleges the posts were false and intended to cause a breakdown of law and order, contrary to Section 24(1)(b) of the Cybercrimes Amendment Act, 2024.
Counts Three and Four specifically frame the same posts as defamatory, claiming Sowore’s remarks damaged the reputation of the President.
Count Five accuses him of deliberately publishing false information across both platforms on August 26, 2025, with the alleged intent of inciting public fear and disturbing the peace.
