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Omoyele Sowore, human rights activist and former presidential candidate, has filed two fundamental rights suits against the Department of State Services (DSS), challenging the “unconstitutional censorship” of his social media accounts.
Sowore, who is publisher of Sahara Reporters, filed the suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The DSS had earlier filed a criminal suit against Sowore before the court in Abuja.
In the suit, Sowore’s lawyer, Tope Temokun, said the actions were instituted to restrain the DSS from interfering with his client’s posts and to stop Meta and X from deleting content critical of President Bola Tinubu.
The lawyer stated: “The lawsuit states categorically that this is about the survival of free speech in Nigeria. If state agencies can dictate to global platforms who may speak and what may be said, then no Nigerian is safe, their voices will be silenced at the whims of those in power.
“Censorship of political criticism is alien to democracy. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in Section 39, guarantees every citizen the right to freedom of expression, without interference. No security agency, no matter how powerful, can suspend or delete those rights.
“Meta and X must also understand that when they bow to unlawful censorship demands, they become complicit in the suppression of the struggle for liberty. They cannot hide behind neutrality while authoritarianism is exported onto their platforms.
“Our prayers before the Court are simple: that the DSS has no power in law to censor Nigerians on social media;
“That Meta and X must not lend their platforms as tools of repression; and
“That our client’s rights and by extension, the rights of all Nigerians, be fully protected against unlawful censorship.
“We call on all lovers of freedom, journalists, human rights defenders, and the Nigerian people to stand firm.
“Today it is Omoyele Sowore ; tomorrow it may be you. This struggle is not about personalities. It is about principle. And we shall resist every attempt to turn Nigeria into a digital dictatorship.“
