By Emamuzo Iboma
Activist and AAC presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore has filed a countersuit against the Department of State Services (DSS), initiating two fundamental human rights cases in Abuja’s Federal High Court. The suit also names social media giants Meta (Facebook) and X Corp, accusing them of unconstitutional censorship targeting Sowore’s accounts.
In a statement signed by his legal team, led by Tope Temokun, Sowore emphasized that the case centers on safeguarding 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,” the statement reads.
The lawyers stressed that censorship of political criticism undermines democracy. “The Nigerian Constitution’s Section 39 guarantees every citizen the right to freedom of expression without interference. No security agency, regardless of their power, can suspend or delete those rights,” they asserted.
They also warned that Meta and X risk being complicit in suppressing liberty if they submit to unlawful censorship demands, stating, “They cannot pretend neutrality while exporting authoritarianism onto their platforms.”
