Human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has formally responded to a demand by the Department of State Services (DSS) that he delete a social media post in which he described President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a “criminal.”
The DSS, in a letter dated September 7, 2025, accused Sowore of publishing a “false, malicious, and inciting” post on X (formerly Twitter) on August 26, 2025.
The agency gave him a one-week ultimatum to retract the statement, warning that failure to comply would compel it to “explore all lawful means” to protect national security and public order.
Responding in a letter dated September 12, Sowore dismissed the request as “fundamentally defective, flawed in principle, and absolutely unlawful.” He insisted that the secret police has no authority to determine how he expresses criticism of the President.
The activist also recalled his previous clashes with the DSS, accusing the agency of being notorious for human rights abuses and unlawful persecution.
Parts of the letter reads, “In 1993, while I was Student Union President at the University of Lagos, policemen abducted me from the university gate during a peaceful pro-democracy protest. I was taken to your Lagos office after being driven around with my head tucked under a seat. From Awolowo Way in Ikoyi, I was detained unlawfully for weeks at the notorious Inter-Center near Ikoyi Cemetery. It took several days of lecture boycotts to force your hand to release me without charges.
“Again, in January and June 1996, during and after my National Youth Service Corps in Yola, Adamawa State, your men detained me and later transferred me to the Nigerian Air Force base, where I was held in hand and leg chains for over a week before release, again without charges. My NYSC discharge certificate has been denied to me to this day because of your unlawful detention.
“In August 2019, DSS agents invaded my hotel room, abducted me, and detained me for months over trumped-up allegations of treasonable felony, money laundering, and Cybercrime. It was your first attempt to falsely accuse me of insulting a sitting President.
“That failed, as did every other false accusation advanced against me by the Government through the SSS and Police. During that period, you flouted several court judgments. Most disgracefully, your men invaded a Federal High Court presided by Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu to abduct me even after bail conditions were met. To this day, you continue to refuse to obey two court judgments ordering the return of my confiscated properties, including several mobile phones and payment of damages.
“You and your ilk have dragged me through unscrupulous abuse and gross violations of rights for decades without remorse.
“In 2021, during the inglorious Buhari years, your agency propped up a sham group, the Incorporated Trustees of Global Integrity Crusade Network, to sue Sahara Reporters and me on behalf of the criminally minded Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN). They prayed the court to compel me and others to pay Malami ₦2 billion for alleged “trauma and emotional stress” caused by Sahara Reporters’ publications in July 2020.
“In his judgment, Justice Obiora Egwuatu awarded ₦100,000 against the litigants, affirming the argument of our attorney, Marshal Abubakar, that they had no right to sue on Malami’s behalf, just as you have no right to act as proxy for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Defamation, the judge reminded, is a personal tort. The AGF should have gone to court himself if he felt defamed.
It is elementary that only the person defamed can sue. Therefore, your attempt to demand a retraction is an incompetent and unlawful attempt to hold the President’s brief.
“Section 22 of the 1999 Constitution requires the press to uphold the government’s responsibility and accountability to the people. Section 39 guarantees every citizen the right to freedom of expression, to hold opinions, and to receive and impart information without interference. Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights provides the same.
“Even in the UK, sedition and libel laws have been repealed as archaic relics of a bygone era. The UN Human Rights Committee in General Comment No. 34 has declared a free, uncensored media essential to democracy. Courts across Africa, including Zimbabwe’s Supreme Court and the African Court in Issa Konate v. Burkina Faso, have ruled that criminal defamation is unjustifiable in a democracy.
“Nigeria’s own Court of Appeal, in Arthur Nwankwo v. State (1985), struck down sedition laws when Nwankwo was convicted for criticizing Governor Jim Nwobodo. The court held that sedition was unconstitutional and inimical to free speech. Justice Adekeye, in IGP v. ANPP, asked how long Nigerians must suffer under colonial-era public order ordinances designed to gag dissent.
“Criticism is indispensable in a democracy. Freedom of speech includes the right to say what those in power find uncomfortable. Justice Olatawura reminded us that citizens must defend their hard-won freedom of expression, and that those in public office must not be intolerant of criticism. Where boundaries are crossed, the remedy is civil libel, not unlawful repression.
“The DSS’s desire to please the powers that be has always destroyed institutions while building “strong men.” But where are those strong men today, after your service broke laws and trampled rights to protect them?
“Rather than vilification, we should be commended for living up to our constitutional responsibility to hold leaders accountable. I am glad you made reference to my constant desire to seek change, the very drive that led me to run for the position of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, even though my commitments and convictions predate partisan political endeavors. It is from that same line of conviction that I have adopted an uncompromising stance, ensuring that this country does not continue down the path of perdition.
“You have no business telling me how to criticise the President. But, knowing the nature of your service, it is clear you have not learnt your lessons. Let me state it clearly once again: the determination of the Nigerian people to reclaim their country from thieves in power is unwavering. And it shall be achieved.”
