Sowore blasts DSS for trying to deactivate his Facebook account
Activist and publisher, Omoyele Sowore, has criticised the Federal Government after the Department of State Services on Sunday asked Meta, the parent company of Facebook, to deactivate his account over a post he made against President Bola Tinubu.
Recall that the DSS had earlier on Saturday written to X, and given the corporation 24 hours to delete Sowore’s tweet that described Tinubu as a criminal.
DSS described the statement as defamatory and threatening to national security, but Sowore vowed not to delete it.
In a post on his X on Monday, Sowore said the Service has extended the sanction request to Facebook.
In a letter he shared dated September 7, 2025, and signed by Uwem Davies on behalf of the Director General of the DSS, the agency referenced the same post made on August 26, in which Sowore criticised Tinubu’s comments during a visit to Brazil and accused him of lying about corruption.
The DSS accused Sowore of spreading “misleading information” and engaging in “hate speech” with a post dated August 26, 2025.
The letter was addressed to Meta’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California, and 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.”
The service demanded “for immediate and urgent ban/deactivation of a Facebook account owned by Omoyele Sowore through his Facebook page or any other account maintained by him.”
The DSS cited several legal provisions, including Section 51 of the Criminal Code Act, Sections 19, 22, and 24 of the Cyber Crimes Act 2025, and the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022, to justify its demand.
The letter warns of “far-reaching, sweeping measures” if Meta fails to comply within 24 hours, a deadline set to expire on September 8, 2025.
Reacting to the DSS’s action, Sowore condemned the agency as “lawless” and “incompetent.”
He highlighted the killing of over 130 citizens in a recent incident, questioning the DSS’s priorities.
“Too idle and incompetent to secure Nigeria… has now written to @facebook, begging them to delete content they find ‘offensive’ to their equally idle, tired, and criminal Commander-in-Chief,” Sowore wrote.
