Publisher and activist Omoyele Sowore has strongly condemned the Department of State Services (DSS) after the agency wrote to the owners of the micro-blogging platform X (formerly Twitter), demanding the deletion of his account over a tweet criticizing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Sowore described this move as a “national disgrace.”
The DSS’s letter to X targeted a tweet Sowore posted in August, which read:
“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 agency claimed that Sowore’s post was personally directed at President Tinubu and alleged that it “attracted widespread condemnation by the majority of Nigerians, some of whom may resort to unwholesome activities to vent their grievance.” Furthermore, the DSS argued that Sowore’s tweets damage the reputation of both the president and Nigeria on the international stage.
In response, Sowore took to his X account to express his outrage:
“The Drowning Tinubu Regime Exports National Disgrace to Twitter, Again @OfficialDSSNG Joins the Fray After Nigeria Police Failure.”
He described waking up to the DSS letter as yet another assault on Nigerian institutions and common sense, a move he had anticipated following DSS-backed protests demanding his arrest.
Sowore condemned the DSS’s demand to deactivate his account within 24 hours, calling the act “unconstitutional” and a “desecration of national dignity.” He warned that similar actions might be taken against his Facebook page, where he continues to voice criticism of the Tinubu administration and other corrupt officials.
Reflecting on his ongoing struggle against state harassment, Sowore recounted:
Being placed on a ‘no-entry’ list at international airports by the Nigerian Immigration Service during the #EndBadGovernance protests.
Having his passport seized by a Federal High Court judge since February 2025.
Being rearrested recently, during which armed police officers injured him and dragged him to court on what he calls trumped-up charges.
Facing false terrorism financing allegations in court—claims he denounces as baseless attempts to silence him.
Sowore accused the DSS, Nigeria Police, and other security agencies of acting like “rogues” who have lost sight of national priorities. He lamented how these agencies are now dragging Nigeria’s reputation through the mud, even taking their abuse of power to platforms like Twitter based in the US.
He also drew parallels to similar tactics used during the Buhari regime, asserting that despite the attempts to suppress him, these efforts “all fell flat” and the perpetrators will eventually “disappear into obscurity.”
Concluding his statement, Sowore challenged Nigerians with a crucial question:
“Do you want to continue being held hostage by a tiny, wicked, inhumane band of rogues?”
He affirmed his commitment to the struggle for justice and good governance, declaring:
“There is no going back. The struggle continues ceaselessly with or without a Twitter account, with or without Facebook, and whether I am in jail or outside of it.”
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