Nigeria’s Department of State Services, DSS has widened its offensive against activist Omoyele Sowore.
Just days after petitioning X Corporation over a viral tweet, the DSS has now written to Facebook’s parent company, Meta, demanding an immediate takedown of Sowore’s page and posts it describes as defamatory and dangerous.
In a strongly worded petition dated September 7, 2025, the DSS demanded Meta Platforms, owners of Facebook, to immediately ban and deactivate Omoyele Sowore’s account.
The agency referenced Sowore’s August 26th post, where 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 DSS said the statement, published on Sowore’s Facebook page, directly ridicules President Bola Tinubu, has attracted condemnation, and is already fueling political tension both online and offline.
Signed by Uwem Davies on behalf of DSS Director-General, the petition to Meta accused Sowore of spreading misleading information, engaging in online harassment and abuse, promoting hate speech, and disparaging the President before the international community.
The agency cited multiple Nigerian laws, including
Section 51 of the Criminal Code Act, prohibiting false publication, Sections 19, 22, and 24 of the Cybercrimes Act 2025, outlawing fake news, offensive and indecent content, and statements capable of provoking hatred among others.
The DSS warned Meta that both the author of the post and the platform distributing it could be held criminally liable under Nigerian law.
It gave the company 24 hours to remove the post, all its shares, and deactivate Sowore’s account, or face what it calls “far-reaching, sweeping and across-the-board measures”.
The agency says failure to comply will compel the government to take action, stressing that Sowore’s words pose a serious threat to national security and Nigeria’s global image.
AITONLINE
