DSS Lacks Powers to Gag Nigerians, Lawyer Declares Over FG’s Attempt to Take Down ‘Anti-Tinubu’ Post on X
Tope Tomekun, the legal representative of social rights activist, Omoyele Sowore has declared that Nigeria’s secret police, the Department of State Services (DSS) has no right to censor Nigerian citizens.
In a press statement issued on Sunday, Mr. Tomekun of Tope Tomekun Chambers, a Lagos based law firm reiterated that the action of DSS to gag Comrade Sowore was unconstitutional and an affront the right to free speech guaranteed by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Information emerged on Sunday that the DSS had officially written X (formerly twitter) requesting the social media platform to pull down a post made by Sowore on the grounds that the post was against Nigeria’s president, Bola Tinubu.
Reacting to the action of the DSS, the legal representative of Comrade Sowore stated that the DSS overreached its constitutional powers by trying to infringe on the fundamental rights of Mr. Sowore.
The statement reads in part:
“We have been put in possession of the notice from X (formerly Twitter) informing Omoyele Sowore that the Department of State Services (DSS) wrote to the platform requesting the removal of one of his posts concerning President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“This unlawful act by the DSS is not just an attack on Sowore, but on the democratic rights of every Nigerian. We have rejected this censorship request in writing to X and have formally demanded that the DSS desist from this unconstitutional conduct.
“We wish to add in categorical language that the DSS has no constitutional or statutory power to censor citizens or procure their censorship through private platforms. The 1999 Constitution (Section 39) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights guarantee freedom of expression, and only a competent court of law can order restrictions on speech.
“Should they insist or persist, we will take all necessary legal steps to protect constitutional rights and defend the freedom of expression guaranteed to all Nigerians.”
The law firm, therefore, called on X to ignore the letter from the DSS as giving importance to the letter would amount to “aiding and abetting state repression in violation of binding human rights and obligations.”
Earlier, Sowore who was the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) shared a letter sent him by X on the demand of the Nigerian government. Sowore vowed never to delete the said offensive post, “This morning, X (formerly Twitter) officially contacted me about the despicable threat letter they received from the lawless DSS over my Tweet on Tinubu. One option I will NOT be taking is deleting that Tweet. Thank you,” he wrote on his social media platforms.
