Nigeria’s State Security Service (SSS, also known as DSS) has written to X Corp, the owner of the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), demanding the deletion of a tweet by activist Omoyele Sowore or face official repercussions.
In the letter, which the agency shared on its X handle early on Sunday, it accused Mr Sowore of using his tweet to disparage and ridicule Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu.
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6th September, 2025
The Chairman and CEO X Corp. Bastrop County,
Texas USA Email: [email protected]
RE: MISLEADING INFORMATION AND WILLFUL, INTENTION TO
FURTHERING AN IDEOLOGY CAPABLE OF SERIOUS HARM,
INCITEMENT TO VIOLENCE, CYBER CRIME, HATE SPEECH TO DISCREDIT/DISPARAGE THE PRESIDENT… pic.twitter.com/f4kAxt6Vop— Department of State Services (DSS) (@OfficialDSSNG) September 7, 2025
In a tweet posted by Mr Sowore on 25 August, he criticised a foreign trip to Brazil by President Tinubu and the statement the president made during the trip.
“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,” Mr Sowore wrote.
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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! pic.twitter.com/uwtMBu1tL2
— Omoyele Sowore (@YeleSowore) August 26, 2025
The SSS claims that supporters of the president, angered by the tweet, have started protesting on the streets, “thereby creating political tension.”
It, therefore, asked X to take down the tweet within 24 hours or it would “be compelled to take far-reaching measures.”
Legal ground
Beyond its threat, the SSS also anchored its demand on several Nigerian laws, claiming that Mr Sowore’s tweet was not just offensive but criminal.
It cited Section 51 of the Criminal Code Act, which prohibits the publication of false information likely to disturb public peace, as well as Sections 19, 22 and 24 of the Cybercrimes Act 2025, which criminalise spreading fake news, harassment and offensive online content.
The agency further pointed to Section 2(3) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, which outlaws statements or actions capable of advancing ideologies that threaten national unity.
Rights groups have often argued that laws cited by the authorities are used to stifle dissent and silence voices critical of the government.
According to the SSS, Mr Sowore’s comments amounted to “misleading information, online harassment and abuse, and hate speech” that could incite unrest and damage Nigeria’s image abroad.
The security agency also warned that X itself could be held complicit if it failed to act, stressing that both the author and the platform were culpable under Nigerian law.
It gave the company 24 hours to comply with its demand to delete the tweet and deactivate Sowore’s account.
Mr Sowore, the publisher of Sahara Reporters and a perennial critic of successive Nigerian governments, has been arrested and prosecuted multiple times, including on treason and unlawful assembly charges.
As of Sunday morning, X Corp had not responded publicly to the Nigerian government’s letter.
Sowore fights back
Reacting to the SSS’s letter, Sowore described the move as “another act of national disgrace” and an assault on constitutional rights.
In a series of posts on his Facebook page, the activist said he was not surprised by the agency’s action, saying it was part of a broader campaign of harassment orchestrated by the Tinubu administration.
He alleged that the SSS sponsored protesters outside the Federal High Court and the Ministry of Justice in Abuja last week, who demanded that he “leave Tinubu alone” and be arrested.
“So it came as no surprise to discover a ridiculously crafted letter from the DSS to X (formerly Twitter), demanding that my Twitter account be deactivated within 24 hours. I won’t be surprised if the same has been extended to my @Facebook page, where similar views have gained currency against Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and redundant, corrupt, and non-performing state governors,” he wrote.
“The brazenness of this is not only unconstitutional, and I need not even mention the constitution, because these guys are outlaws who operate above their own laws; however, this latest self-disgrace by the DSS is a desecration of national dignity,” the activist added.
Mr Sowore accused the government of using security agencies to persecute him since the #EndBadGovernance protests last year.
He recounted being placed on a no-entry list at airports, having his passport seized, being arrested, rearrested and injured by police officers and facing what he described as trumped-up charges, including an allegation of terrorism financing.
“First, during the #EndBadGovernance national protest, they ordered Immigration to place me on a no-entry list at all international airports,” he continued. “Then, the illegal IGP had me arrested for calling him what he is. A Federal High Court judge was procured to seize my passport since February 2025. I was then rearrested recently, my cell was broken into by eight armed police officers who injured my right hand, and dragged again to court on trumped-up charges.”
According to him, claims that Tinubu’s supporters were protesting his tweets were a “shameless pretext” since the supposed protesters were security operatives acting under orders.
He added that exporting the dispute to X’s headquarters in the United States showed “how far Nigeria has sunk into the hands of its most incompetent and dysfunctional citizens.”
Mr Sowore vowed not to delete the tweet and declared that the struggle against corruption and authoritarianism would continue “with or without a Twitter account, with or without Facebook, and whether I am in jail or outside of it.”
He also revealed that X Corp had formally contacted him regarding the SSS’s request. In the notification, the company confirmed receiving the complaint from the Nigerian government but stated it had not taken any action on the reported content.
“As X strongly believes in defending and respecting the voice of our users, it is our policy to notify our users if we receive a legal request from an authorised entity … to remove content from their account,” the platform wrote, adding that Mr Sowore had the right to seek legal advice or contest the request.
Mr Sowore hailed the company’s stance, insisting that deleting the tweet was “one option I will NOT be taking.”
READ ALSO: Absence of Sahara Reporters in court stalls Sowore’s arraignment
Options before SSS
The SSS is Nigeria’s secret police tasked with the responsibility of protecting the Nigerian state, but it has been accused of defending the interests of ruling politicians.
The agency did not state the specific actions it would take should X refuse to delete the Tweet or deactivate Mr Sowore’s account.
The SSS may choose to file a suit against X and Mr Sowore over the tweet.
It may also decide to work with telecom regulators to ban X, as was done by the Nigerian government during the Muhammadu Buhari administration.
PREMIUM TIMES reports that the Buhari government banned X, then called Twitter, for several weeks, preventing millions of Nigerians from being able to access the social media platform.
The ban was condemned by human rights groups and later declared illegal by a court.
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