Sowore Blasts DSS Over ‘Desperate’ Cyberstalking Charges For Calling Tinubu A Criminal, Calls Case ‘Attack On Free Speech’

Sowore Blasts DSS Over ‘Desperate’ Cyberstalking Charges For Calling Tinubu A Criminal, Calls Case ‘Attack On Free Speech’

The criticism came after the agency dragged him, alongside tech giants Meta and X (formerly Twitter), before the Federal High Court in Abuja on charges widely described as flimsy and laughable.

Human rights activist and former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore launched a blistering attack on the Department of State Services (DSS) on Tuesday.

The criticism came after the agency dragged him, alongside tech giants Meta and X (formerly Twitter), before the Federal High Court in Abuja on charges widely described as flimsy and laughable.

Sowore, together with X Corp. (owners of X) and Meta Platforms Inc. (parent company of Facebook), has been listed as a defendant in a five-count charge filed by the DSS at the court’s registry.

The charges, filed on September 16, 2025, by M.B. Abubakar, Director of Public Prosecutions at the Federal Ministry of Justice, accuse Sowore of cyberstalking, defamation, and publishing false information against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Sowore had called the President a “criminal” in posts on X and Facebook.

However, Sowore, who was in court on Tuesday despite not being properly served with any charge, told journalists that the case was nothing but a “waste of state resources” and a desperate attempt by Nigeria’s secret police to silence dissent.

According to him, the so-called evidence tendered by the DSS consisted of nothing more than a screenshot.

“That is not evidence. That is desperation,” Sowore fumed, insisting that the DSS deliberately avoided serving him because they feared he would prepare a watertight defence.

“They wanted to ambush me in court today, but I came here by myself, as I always do, because even when cases don’t concern me, I show up,” he declared.

Sowore accused the DSS of trying to police Nigerians’ right to free speech under the guise of protecting President Tinubu. He described the charges as a crude attempt to criminalise criticism of the government.

The former African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate mocked the agency’s claim of modeling itself after the U.S. Secret Service, pointing out that America’s presidential protection service has never filed lawsuits against citizens who insult or criticise presidents.

“The Secret Service in America protects the president. It does not police free speech. Trump was insulted thousands of times, yet nobody was arrested or dragged to court for it,” Sowore said.

“But the DSS thinks its job is to decide who can speak and who cannot. That is madness,” Sowore said.

He vowed to resist what he described as a creeping dictatorship, warning that Nigerians must confront so-called civilian leaders who “rigged themselves into office under a constitution I don’t even believe in.”

Sowore also alleged that the DSS forced the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to appear in court to “save face,” after its own lawyers had failed to stand up to him since 2019.

“This is not about me. It is about 200 million Nigerians who deserve good governance, transparency, accountability, and the basic standards of democracy. Freedom of speech is non-negotiable,” he declared.

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