Human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has claimed that the Department of State Services (DSS) asked him to retract his social media posts criticising President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) and sighted by AFRIPOST, Sowore said the agency delivered a letter demanding that he delete his tweets and Facebook posts directed at the President.
He added that his lawyers received the correspondence at their Abuja office.
According to him, he formally responded to the DSS Director General, faulting the agency’s action and insisting that it was both unlawful and unconstitutional.
“The @OfficialDSSNG has finally sent me a letter asking me to delete my tweet and @facebook posting against Tinubu. Here is their letter and my response to their DG,” Sowore wrote.
In his reply, Sowore argued that the DSS had no legal basis to act as a proxy for the President in matters of defamation.
“I acknowledge receipt of your letter, which you stealthily dumped with a security guard at the office of my attorneys in Abuja, addressed to Abubakar Marshal. I find your horrendous attempt at holding an unwarranted brief for the President not only insidious but fundamentally defective, flawed in principle, and absolutely unlawful,” he said.
The activist recounted several instances where he alleged that the security agency unlawfully detained and harassed him in the past, dating back to his days as a student leader in the 1990s and more recently during his 2019 arrest.
He also cited constitutional provisions and African court judgments upholding freedom of expression, stressing that criticism of leaders is an essential part of democracy.
“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,” Sowore stated.
He insisted that he would not retract his posts, declaring that the struggle for accountability and freedom in Nigeria would continue.
“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. Freedom cometh by struggle. Aluta continua, victoria ascerta,” he wrote.