Human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has criticised the Department of State Services for asking Meta, the parent company of Facebook, to deactivate his account over a post he made about President Bola Tinubu.
The DSS had earlier written to X, demanding that a post by Sowore describing Tinubu as a “criminal” be deleted within 24 hours, a request the activist refused.
In a new letter dated September 7 and signed by Uwem Davies on behalf of the Director General of the DSS, the agency asked Meta to urgently deactivate Sowore’s account. The letter claimed Sowore’s August 26 post contained “misleading information” and “hate speech” that could incite public unrest.
It read in part: “The remarks had sparked anger among citizens and could incite public disturbance, disunity, and even insurrection.”
The DSS further cited provisions of the Criminal Code Act, the Cyber Crimes Act 2025, and the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022 to back its demand, warning that failure to comply within 24 hours would lead to “far-reaching, sweeping measures.”
But Sowore, in his reaction on X, accused the DSS of being more concerned with silencing critics than securing lives.
“Too idle and incompetent to secure Nigeria… has now written to @facebook, begging them to delete content they find ‘offensive’ to their equally idle, tired, and criminal Commander-in-Chief,” Sowore wrote.
The activist also pointed to recent killings of over 130 people, questioning why the agency was not focused on national security.
He maintained that he would not delete his post, saying on Sunday: “One option I will not be taking is deleting that Tweet. Thank you, @X.”
