Human rights activist and former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore has accused the Department of State Services (DSS) of attempting to silence him by petitioning X (formerly Twitter) to deactivate his account within 24 hours.
In a statement on Sunday, Sowore said the move followed protests allegedly staged last week by pro-government demonstrators at the Federal High Court and the Federal Ministry of Justice, who called on the DSS to arrest him.
He described the development as “a desecration of national dignity” and part of a broader campaign of harassment by security agencies under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
According to Sowore, the Nigeria Police and other agencies had previously targeted him through arrests, a travel ban, seizure of his passport since February 2025, and fresh court charges. He also alleged that police officers recently broke into his cell, assaulted him, and accused him of terrorism financing in court.
“This latest attempt to export disgrace abroad by petitioning Twitter in the United States shows how far Nigeria has sunk,” Sowore said, adding that the DSS and police had “become conscienceless and totally lost to national priority.”
The activist vowed not to be silenced, insisting that his campaign against bad governance would continue “with or without a Twitter account, with or without Facebook, and whether I am in jail or outside of it.”
As of press time, the DSS had not issued a response to the allegations.
