By Uboh-Ekong Treasure
The Department of State Services (DSS) has given human rights activist and publisher Omoyele Sowore a seven days ultimatum to retract a social media post it described as “false, malicious and inciting” against President Bola Tinubu, warning that failure to comply would force the agency to “explore all lawful means” to protect national security and public order.
In a letter dated September 7, the DSS through its Director of Legal Services, Uwem Davies accused Sowore of making “criminal and derogatory” remarks in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on August 26, in which he allegedly referred to President Tinubu as a “criminal” while reacting to the president’s remarks in Brazil that corruption no longer exists under his administration. The Service described the post as “repugnant, derogatory and capable of inciting public disturbance.”
The DSS said it had earlier written to the management of X , giving the platform 24 hours to delete the offending post, and has extended the request to Meta over a related Facebook post.. The agency asked Sowore to publish a retraction and tender a public apology within one week.
Sowore, a former presidential candidate and convener of the #RevolutionNow movement, rejected the ultimatum. Responding on X, he said he would not delete his post and mocked the DSS deadline, arguing that holding public officials to account was part of his work as an activist and journalist. He also accused security agents of attempting to have his Facebook account deactivated.
The DSS warned that failure to retract the post within the seven-day period would leave it with no choice but to take lawful steps, though it did not specify what measures it might adopt. Security analysts believe such steps could include filing formal charges or escalating its request to international social media platforms for enforcement.
