Amnesty International gives Tinubu 7 days to drop criminal charges against activist Sowore

•Sowore and Tinubu

The Amnesty International and the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Proj­ect (SERAP) have given President Bola Tinubu seven days to instruct the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), to immediately with­draw the cybercrime and defamation charges filed against activist Omoyele Sowore, as well as against the owners of X (former­ly Twitter) and Facebook, over Sowore’s alleged crit­ical posts about the presi­dent on the platforms.

SERAP and Amnesty International urged him to direct the Department of State Services (DSS) and other security and law en­forcement agencies to im­mediately stop misusing the judicial processes to silence public criticism and violate Nigerians’ rights through the use of Strategic Law­suits Against Public Partic­ipation (SLAPPs) or similar forms of harassment, reports Daily Independent.

SERAP and Amnesty International also urged him to direct Mr. Fagbe­mi to urgently prepare an anti-SLAPP legislation for the National Assembly, to protect Nigerians from the weaponisation of the justice system by the DSS and other security and law enforcement agencies and to safeguard the right to freedom of expression.

In the letter dated Sep­tember 20, 2025, and jointly signed by SERAP deputy di­rector Kolawole Oluwadare and AI Nigeria director Isa Sanusi, the groups said, “The weaponisation of the justice system to crack­down on peaceful dissent is entirely inconsistent with the Nigerian constitution 1999 [as amended] and the country’s international hu­man rights obligations.

“SLAPP and criminal defamation lawsuits are neither necessary nor proportionate under the Nigerian constitution and human rights treaties to which Nigeria is a state par­ty. Such lawsuits generate a chilling effect that inhibits the enjoyment of human rights and circulation of ideas and information.”

According to the groups, “A lawsuit challenging the legality and compatibility of the provisions of the Cy­bercrime (Prohibition, Pre­vention, etc.) (Amendment) Act 2024 with the rights to freedom of expression and information is also pending before the ECOWAS Court.

“As a matter of the rule of law, the DSS and other security and law enforce­ment agencies cannot and should not use the amended Act to silence peaceful dis­sent pending the hearing and determination of the lawsuit by the court.

“Your government has the legal obligations to pre­vent harassment through legal processes against Ni­gerians peacefully exercis­ing their human rights, and to protect the legitimacy, independence and impar­tiality of the hearing of the lawsuit on the Cyber­crimes Act pending before the ECOWAS Court.

“The use of SLAPP and criminal defamation law­suits is incompatible with the fundamental principles of a democratic society, to which Nigeria aspires. Pol­iticians and other public of­ficials and agencies should tolerate a high degree of criticism due to their pub­lic position in democratic societies.

“Nigerian authorities not only have a negative obligation to abstain from unduly interfering with human rights but also have a positive obligation to fa­cilitate and protect these rights.

“Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right and full enjoyment of this right is central to achieving individual free­dom and to developing de­mocracy. It is not only the cornerstone of democracy, but indispensable to a thriv­ing civil society.

“Any restrictions on hu­man rights including the right to freedom of expres­sion must meet the condi­tions of legality, serve as one of the legitimate pur­poses expressly provided for in the Nigerian consti­tution and human rights treaties, and must be nec­essary, and proportionate to that purpose.

“Nigerian courts and re­gional human rights courts have consistently held that politicians should expect far greater criticism of their actions and their func­tioning than ordinary indi­viduals. These courts and other human rights mech­anisms have renounced the use of defamation as a legal tool to suffocate dissent.

“The use of SLAPP and criminal defamation law­suits by security and law enforcement agencies with the purpose of silencing criticism is a threat to free­dom of expression. SLAPP lawsuits pose serious risks to democracy and the rule of law as they limit public participation.

“We would be grateful if the recommended mea­sures are taken within 7 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, we would consid­er all appropriate legal ac­tions including before the ECOWAS Court of Justice to compel your government to comply with our request in the public interest.

“According to our infor­mation, the federal gov­ernment recently charged Sahara Reporters publish­er and activist Omoyele Sowore alongside X and Facebook owners over Mr. Sowore’s recent alleged ‘anti-Tinubu’ posts on the social media platforms.

“Two of the counts are brought under the Cyber­crimes Act while the other three charges of criminal defamation, causing public fear and disturbance are brought under the Crimi­nal Code Act.

“The suit dated 16th Sep­tember,2025, was lodged at the Federal High Court in Abuja after Sowore alleged­ly refused to delete certain posts allegedly critical of President Tinubu. The charges were brought on behalf of the DSS and the federal government by the Director of Public Prose­cutions at the Ministry of Justice.

“The DSS in May 2025 also filed a SLAPP law­suit against Professor Pat Utomi, a former presiden­tial candidate, accusing him of attempting to ille­gally usurp President Bola Tinubu’s executive powers by setting up a shadow gov­ernment.

“In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/937/2025, filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, the DSS al­leged that Utomi’s actions posed a threat to national security and constitutional order.

“The 2007 presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress was named as the sole defendant in the suit. DSS operatives in October 2024 also filed a SLAPP lawsuit against SERAP over allegations of an unauthorised 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.

“We are concerned that SLAPP lawsuits have a chill­ing effect on the exercise of the right to freedom of ex­pression and other funda­mental human rights pro­tected under the Nigerian constitution and the Inter­national Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.”