The Department of State Services (DSS), in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Justice, has formally arraigned human rights activist and publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, before the Federal High Court in Abuja on a five-count charge related to alleged cybercrime and criminal defamation.
The charges stem from a social media post made by Sowore on August 25, 2025, via his verified X (formerly Twitter) account, @YeleSowore, in which he referred to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a “criminal” and accused him of falsely claiming that corruption had been eradicated under his administration during a visit to Brazil. The DSS alleges that the post was intended to incite public disorder and undermine the reputation of the President.
The criminal charges, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/484/2025, cite violations of Section 24 (2)(b) of the Cybercrimes Prohibition and Prevention Act 2024, as well as Sections 59 and 375 of the Criminal Code. Global tech platforms X Corp and Meta (parent company of Facebook) have also been named as co-defendants in the suit.
Sowore appeared in court today accompanied by a team of approximately 25 lawyers prepared to defend him. He has publicly rejected the DSS’s request to delete the post and has filed a countersuit challenging what he describes as unconstitutional censorship and suppression of free speech.