Adeyanju further warned against the misuse of state institutions to suppress dissenting voices.
Human rights activist and lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, has strongly criticised the Department of State Services (DSS) over its targeting of former presidential candidate and activist, Omoyele Sowore’s X (formerly Twitter) account.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Adeyanju said: “The targeting of Omoyele Sowore’s account by the DSS is unacceptable and should be condemned.”
He stressed that freedom of expression is a constitutional right, adding: “Every citizen has the right to freely share their opinions, even when those opinions do not align with those in authority.”
Adeyanju further warned against the misuse of state institutions to suppress dissenting voices.
“The use of state power to silence and intimidate individuals because of their views is an attack on the very freedoms that sustain a healthy democracy,” he said.
He described Sowore as a consistent voice of resistance against oppressive regimes, saying, “Sowore has remained a victim of intolerant governments, yet he continues to speak his mind courageously. He is not just an activist but he is also a former presidential candidate whose commentary on governance carry weight.”
Adeyanju also called for respect towards Sowore’s criticisms of government policies.
“His criticisms of the president or government policies must be treated with respect, no matter how uncomfortable they may be for those in power,” he said.
Earlier, SaharaReporters reported that the DSS had formally petitioned the management of X, demanding the immediate suspension or deactivation of Sowore’s verified account, over a post it described as a threat to national security.
In a letter signed by B. Bamigboye, for the Director General, State Services, dated September 6, 2025, and addressed to the Chairman and CEO of X Corp in Texas, United States, the DSS alleged that Sowore’s post constituted hate speech, cybercrime, and incitement to violence against the President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
According to the DSS, Sowore, through his handle @YeleSowore, made a post on August 25, 2025, at 11:38 PM, 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 secret police described the statement as “personally directed at Mr. President” and said it had “attracted widespread condemnation by majority of Nigerians, some of whom may resort to unwholesome activities to vent their grievance over it, especially supporters of the President who have started taking to the streets in protest.”
The DSS claimed that Sowore’s “tweet under reference is against the transparency on X and Government has frowned at it and found it extremely dangerous, false, privacy violation behavior that manipulate and negatively impacts on the person of the President and the Country”.
Citing Nigerian law, the DSS said the post violates Section 51 of the Criminal Code Act Cap.77, which prohibits the publication of false information, as well as provisions of the Cyber Crimes Act 2025, which criminalises spreading fake news, offensive content, and statements intended to provoke ethnic, religious, or tribal hatred. It also referenced the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, arguing that Sowore’s words could amount to domestic terrorism.
“The author and purveyor of the inflammatory online publication against Mr. President is very much aware that the publication is also prohibited by Section 2(3) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 and other relevant Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the DSS said.
“It is not in doubt that the words employed by Mr. Omoyele Sowore is misleading information, online harassment and abuse, willful intention of furthering 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 serious threat to national security of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
The DSS, therefore, requested X Corp to urgently delete Sowore’s post and deactivate his account, warning that both the author and the platform could be held “criminally liable” under Nigerian law.
“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 tweet and its attendant re-tweets,” it said.
“This demand is unequivocal with its attendant consequence. Should you fail, neglect and refuse to comply with the command in this notice, the Federal Government will be compelled to take far-reaching, sweeping and across-the-board measures through our Organization, whose mandate covers such criminal acts.”
“In the light of the above having been made official to you, 24 hours is sufficient enough to take necessary action,” it added.
