Human rights activist and publisher, Omoyele Sowore, has berated the Department of State Services after the agency reportedly asked Meta, the parent company of Facebook, to deactivate his account over a post critical of President Bola Tinubu.
In a letter dated September 7, 2025, and signed by Uwem Davies on behalf of the Director General of the DSS, the agency urged Meta to take down Sowore’s Facebook account, describing one of his posts as “misleading information” and “hate speech.”
The controversial post, originally published on August 26, accused President Tinubu of dishonesty during a visit to Brazil and labeled him “a criminal.” The DSS had earlier written to X (formerly Twitter), demanding the deletion of the same content.
The letter to Meta was titled: “Misleading Information and Willful Intention to Further an Ideology Capable of Serious Harm, Incitement to Violence, Cyber Crime, Hate Speech to Discredit/Disparage the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Cause Serious Threat to National Security of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
Citing provisions of the Criminal Code Act, the Cyber Crimes Act 2025, and the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022, the DSS warned of “far-reaching, sweeping measures” if Meta failed to comply within 24 hours.
Reacting to the development in a post on X, Sowore dismissed the DSS action as an abuse of power.
“The DSS is too idle and incompetent to secure Nigeria but has time to beg @facebook to delete content they find offensive to their equally idle, tired, and criminal Commander-in-Chief,” Sowore wrote.
He further questioned the priorities of the agency, referencing recent attacks that claimed over 130 lives. “Rather than protect citizens from killings, they are chasing after critics online. This is how lawless and incompetent they have become,” he added.