The Department of State Services (DSS) has ordered an immediate investigation into the conduct of operatives involved in an altercation with activist Omoyele Sowore at the Federal High Court, Abuja, on 22nd June 2026, after which he was remanded in Kuje Prison.
In a statement signed by Deputy Director, Public Relations and Strategic Communications, Favour Dozie, the DSS said the Director-General directed the probe following concerns raised by citizens over video footage showing Sowore scuffling with a Correctional Center official and DSS operatives. The Service noted that Sowore later opted for a DSS vehicle instead of a Correctional Service vehicle to be conveyed to prison.
The DSS said Sowore’s remand was based entirely on court processes, not an arrest by the Service. According to the statement, the Service filed charges in suit FHC/ABJ/CR/481/2025 for alleged contravention of Section 24 of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Amendment Act, 2024.
The charges stem from an X and Facebook post made by Sowore on 25th August 2025, where he wrote: “this criminal actually went to Brazil to state that there is NO MORE CORRUPTION in Nigeria. What audacity to lie shamelessly,” referring to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The DSS said it first wrote Sowore on 4th September 2025 demanding a retraction within one week, in line with the current DG’s preference for resolving such issues without force.
Sowore was granted bail on self-recognition without a surety at the commencement of trial, a position the DSS said it did not oppose and which Sowore himself applauded. The Service stated that the bail revocation and subsequent remand were “entirely premised on court processes.”
The Service cited past cases to support its approach: the suit against Prof. Pat Utomi’s “Shadow Government,” which the court declared unconstitutional; demands for public apology from media houses over false reports on alleged invasion of Lagos House of Assembly and barricade of the National Assembly; and a defamation suit won by two DSS operatives against SERAP over false claims of invasion.
“In all these, the Service maintained its hygiene and adherence to rule of law,” the statement said.
The DSS said the charges against Sowore were filed pursuant to SSS Instrument No. 1 of 1999, made under the National Security Agencies Act of 1986, to seek judicial interpretation of the right to disparage and cyberbully the President.
The Service assured the public of “sustained priority to professionalism, with emphasis on civility in its operations, even at the face of provocation.”