Daniel Otera
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and Amnesty International Nigeria have called on President Bola Tinubu to immediately withdraw the criminal charges against activist Omoyele Sowore, as well as social media platforms X and Facebook, for posts deemed critical of the President. This demand was made in a joint letter dated September 20, 2025. The organizations also urged Tinubu to curb the misuse of judicial processes by security agencies to suppress dissent and to push for legislation that would prevent such actions.
The letter, signed by SERAP’s deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare and Amnesty International Nigeria’s director Isa Sanusi, expresses growing concerns about the increasing use of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) and criminal defamation charges as tools to silence critics. It specifically calls on Tinubu to instruct the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), to propose an anti-SLAPP law to the National Assembly. Such a law, the groups argue, would protect Nigerians from lawsuits aimed at stifling free speech and public criticism.
“The weaponization of the justice system to crack down on peaceful dissent is entirely inconsistent with the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended) and the country’s international human rights obligations,” the letter stated. The groups emphasized that such lawsuits create a “chilling effect” that discourages free expression and undermines democracy.
The charges against Sowore, filed on September 16, 2025, at the Federal High Court in Abuja, stem from his alleged refusal to delete social media posts critical of Tinubu. According to the letter, two of the five counts against Sowore were brought under the Cybercrimes (Amendment) Act 2024. The remaining three counts related to criminal defamation, causing public fear, and disturbing the peace, all of which fall under the Criminal Code Act. The lawsuit, initiated by the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Federal Government, also names X Corp and Meta Incorporation as defendants. The case was filed by M.B. Abubakar, Director of Public Prosecutions at the Federal Ministry of Justice, alongside four other DSS counsel: M.E. Ernest, U.B. Bulla, Dr. C.S. Eze, and E.G. Orubor.
SERAP and Amnesty International Nigeria argue that the charges are neither “necessary nor proportionate” and violate Nigeria’s constitutional and international human rights commitments. They noted that a lawsuit challenging the legality of the Cybercrimes Act 2024 is already pending before the ECOWAS Court, rendering the DSS’s use of the law to target Sowore premature and inappropriate. “The DSS and other agencies cannot and should not use the amended Act to silence peaceful dissent pending the hearing and determination of the case,” the groups asserted.
The organizations also referenced a 2022 ECOWAS Court ruling, which declared Section 24 of the Cybercrime Act arbitrary, vague, and repressive. The court had ordered Nigeria to cease prosecuting citizens for “insulting public officials online.” Despite this ruling, the DSS has continued to file similar lawsuits, including one in May 2025 against Professor Pat Utomi, a former presidential candidate. In that case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/937/2025, the DSS accused Utomi of attempting to “illegally usurp” Tinubu’s executive powers by allegedly setting up a shadow government, claiming his actions threatened national security and constitutional order. Additionally, in October 2024, the DSS filed a SLAPP lawsuit against SERAP, alleging an unauthorized office invasion.
“These cases illustrate the growing use of SLAPP lawsuits by the DSS and other security and law enforcement agencies in Nigeria to target, harass, and intimidate Nigerians for the peaceful exercise of their human rights,” the letter stated. The groups warned that such tactics pose “serious risks to democracy and the rule of law” by limiting public participation and free expression.
The letter also reminded Tinubu of his Democracy Day speech in June 2025, in which he defended the right to free speech, stating, “We dare not seek silence because the imposed silence of repressed voices breeds chaos and ill will… Call me names, call me whatever you will, and I will still call upon democracy to defend your right to do so.” The groups urged the President to align his actions with these words by halting the misuse of judicial processes.
Sowore confirmed the charges in a Facebook post on September 16, 2025, writing, “The State Security Service, alias @OfficialDSSNG today filed a 5-count charge at the Federal High Court in Abuja against X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and myself. They claimed that because I called Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu a criminal, I have somehow committed a set of ‘novel’ offences they invented and spread across five counts.” He described the charges as an attempt to suppress his activism and silence critical voices.
SERAP and Amnesty International Nigeria issued a seven-day ultimatum for Tinubu to act, warning that failure to withdraw the charges would lead to legal action, including before the ECOWAS Court of Justice. The groups stressed that the continued use of SLAPP lawsuits by security agencies undermines Nigeria’s democratic principles and international human rights obligations.
The issue of shrinking civic space in Nigeria has been a growing concern for civil society organizations, particularly in relation to the increasing harassment and intimidation of activists, journalists, and dissenting voices. This alarming trend has been documented by several reports, including the 2024 Civic Space Monitor report, which reveals over 150 cases of such harassment between 2020 and 2024. Notably, 30% of these cases involved the misuse of judicial processes, highlighting the systemic nature of the problem.
One of the most concerning developments in recent years has been the widespread use of the Cybercrimes Act as a tool to target critics. Since its amendment in 2024, the Act has been invoked in at least 45 instances to silence opposition and curb free expression. Despite the ongoing legal challenges to the Cybercrimes Act, it continues to serve as a weapon against those who dare to question the status quo, further exacerbating the climate of fear and self-censorship that now permeates Nigerian civil society.
These trends raise important questions about the future of democracy in Nigeria. Critics point to the erosion of fundamental freedoms as a direct consequence of these practices.