Amnesty International Nigeria has condemned what it described as an unlawful attempt by the Department of State Services (DSS) to silence human rights defender Omoyele Sowore through censorship of his social media account.
The rights group said the DSS recently demanded that X (formerly Twitter) remove Sowore’s post critical of President Bola Tinubu and even sought the deactivation of his account. The platform, according to Sowore, notified him of the request.
Amnesty described the move as a brazen act of censorship that violates Nigeria’s Constitution and international human rights treaties, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which Nigeria has ratified.
The organisation stressed that there was no legal justification for targeting Sowore’s account, warning that the action reflects a broader attempt to intimidate dissenting voices and restrict civic space.
Amnesty urged Nigerian authorities to respect fundamental rights, including freedom of expression and privacy, and called on X not to comply with any unlawful censorship demands that threaten the voices of activists and human rights defenders.
