The Department of State Services (DSS) has petitioned X Corp. (formerly Twitter), demanding the immediate suspension and deactivation of activist Omoyele Sowore’s verified account, @YeleSowore, within 24 hours.
The move follows Sowore’s post on August 25, 2025, where he shared a video of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu during a state visit to Brazil. In the video, Tinubu declared that “corruption is no more in Nigeria.” Reacting, Sowore described the statement as a “shameless lie,” calling the President a “criminal.”
In a letter dated September 6, 2025, and signed by B. Bamigboye on behalf of the Director-General, the DSS described Sowore’s post as “false, misleading, online harassment and hate speech” targeted at discrediting the President and Nigeria before the international community.
The DSS warned that the post could incite unrest, noting that some Tinubu supporters had already staged street protests in reaction. It also cited violations of the Criminal Code Act, the Cyber Crimes Act 2025, and provisions of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Quoting sections 19, 22 and 24 of the Cyber Crimes Act, the Service argued that Sowore’s statement amounted to fake news and online harassment with the potential to provoke ethnic or political unrest an offense it linked to domestic terrorism.
The secret police therefore urged X Corp. to take down the post and deactivate Sowore’s account. It added that failure to comply could force the Federal Government to take “far-reaching measures” against the platform.
This development has stirred reactions across Nigeria’s political space, with many watching closely to see if X will bow to the DSS demand.