DSS Tenders Social Media Evidence Against Sowore in Cybercrime Trial
The Federal Government on Thursday, January 22, 2026, commenced trial proceedings against activist and publisher Omoyele Sowore at the Federal High Court in Abuja, where a Department of State Services (DSS) operative testified on alleged cyberbullying linked to social media posts critical of President Bola Tinubu.
Sowore is being prosecuted in a case marked FHC/ABJ/CR/484/2025 before Justice Mohammed Umar, following a post he allegedly made in August 2025 that the government claims constituted cyberbullying of the President.
Opening its case, the prosecution, led by Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), called its first witness, Cyril Nosike, a DSS operative attached to the agency’s cyberspace monitoring centre.
Nosike told the court that his unit conducts round-the-clock surveillance of online activities to detect content capable of breaching national security or public order.
According to the witness, on August 26, 2025, he monitored posts allegedly made by Sowore on his X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook accounts. One of the posts, which was tendered in evidence, read:
“This criminal @officialABAT actually went to Brazil to say that there is NO MORE corruption under his regime in Nigeria. What an audacity to lie shamelessly.”
Nosike identified the handle @officialABAT as belonging to President Bola Tinubu, Nigeria’s President and Commander-in-Chief. He said the video containing the post was downloaded and stored on a flash drive, alongside a certificate of compliance. The court admitted the flash drive as Exhibit A and the certificate as Exhibit B, after which the video was played in open court.
During the testimony, defence counsel, Marshal Abubakar, objected to what he described as leading questions by the prosecution.
Justice Umar upheld the objection and cautioned the prosecution to allow the witness’s testimony to flow naturally.
The DSS operative further testified that the post generated multiple reactions from the public on both social media platforms. Screenshots of the reactions, along with a second certificate of compliance, were admitted as Exhibits C and C1.
Nosike also informed the court that he wrote official emails to the owners of X and Facebook requesting that the post be taken down, citing concerns over rising tension. Screenshots of the correspondence were admitted as Exhibit D, while a demand for retraction was marked Exhibit E.
He added that Sowore later published the contents of the letters on his social media accounts, triggering further reactions from Nigerians within and outside the country.
According to the witness, the reactions were disparaging and portrayed the DSS negatively. Screenshots of those reactions were admitted as Exhibit F.
Proceedings were briefly disrupted when the prosecution applied for Sowore’s mobile phone to be taken from him, alleging a breach of court rules. Sowore opposed the application, arguing that possession of a phone was not a criminal offence.
Ruling on the matter, Justice Umar ordered Sowore to hand over the device to his counsel, stating:
“You are not allowed to use any electronic gadgets in court.
For that reason, the phone should be handed to your defence counsel until proceedings are over.”
At the conclusion of the witness’s testimony, the defence requested an adjournment to prepare for cross-examination.
Although the prosecution opposed the request, arguing that all documents had been front-loaded, the court granted the adjournment.
Justice Umar subsequently adjourned the matter to January 27, 2026, for cross-examination and continuation of trial.
Sowore was re-arraigned on amended cyberbullying charges after the Federal Government withdrew charges against Meta and X, restricting the case to allegations arising solely from his social media posts concerning President Tinubu.
