Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS) has written to X Corp., the parent company of the microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter), demanding the immediate suspension of activist Omoyele Sowore’s verified account, @YeleSowore, over what it described as a “misleading and dangerous publication” against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
In a letter dated September 6, 2025, signed by B. Bamigboye on behalf of the Director-General of the DSS, and posted on its X handle @OfficialDSSNG on September 6, 2025, the agency accused Sowore of deliberately spreading false information, hate speech, and incitement capable of threatening national security.
The DSS cited a post made by Sowore on August 25, 2025, in which 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!”
According to the DSS, the remarks were personally targeted at the President through his official X handle, @officialABAT, and have since sparked widespread condemnation and protests from Tinubu’s supporters, creating political tension across the country.
The security agency argued that the post not only disparaged the President but also violated multiple Nigerian laws, including provisions of the Criminal Code Act, the Cybercrimes Act 2025, and the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022. It insisted that Sowore’s words constituted online harassment, misinformation, and a deliberate attempt to discredit Nigeria before the international community.
“The tweet under reference is against the transparency on X and Government has frowned at it and found it extremely dangerous, false, privacy violation behavior that manipulates and negatively impacts on the person of the President and the Country,” the letter read in part.
The DSS further warned X Corp. of “far-reaching, sweeping and across-the-board measures” should the company fail to take down Sowore’s tweet and deactivate his account within 24 hours.
Sowore, a former presidential candidate and publisher of Sahara Reporters, is a known critic of successive Nigerian governments and has faced multiple legal battles over his activism.
As of press time, neither X Corp. nor Sowore had publicly responded to the DSS demand.
