Rights groups Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and Amnesty International have called on President Bola Tinubu to withdraw cybercrime and defamation charges filed against activist Omoyele Sowore, as well as the owners of X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.
In a joint letter dated September 20, 2025, and signed by SERAP’s deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare and Amnesty International Nigeria’s director, Isa Sanusi, the organisations urged the president to direct Attorney-General Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) to drop the case. They also asked that the Department of State Services (DSS) and other security agencies stop misusing the justice system to silence critics through Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs).
The charges stem from Sowore’s alleged “anti-Tinubu” posts on social media, which the government claims caused public disturbance. The Federal High Court in Abuja is handling the case, filed on September 16 by the Director of Public Prosecutions on behalf of the DSS.
According to the rights groups, the government’s actions violate both the Nigerian Constitution and international human rights treaties. They warned that criminal defamation and cybercrime provisions are being weaponised to intimidate citizens, restrict dissent, and limit public participation.
“SLAPP and criminal defamation lawsuits are neither necessary nor proportionate,” the letter stated, adding that such cases “generate a chilling effect that inhibits human rights and free circulation of ideas.”
The groups further urged the government to propose an anti-SLAPP law in the National Assembly to protect Nigerians from legal harassment. They also noted that a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Cybercrime (Amendment) Act 2024 is pending at the ECOWAS Court, which has previously declared parts of the legislation vague and repressive.
SERAP and Amnesty pointed to a growing pattern of SLAPP cases, citing past lawsuits filed by the DSS against opposition figures such as Professor Pat Utomi and even against SERAP itself.
They reminded President Tinubu of his own pledge to uphold fundamental rights, referencing his Democracy Day address where he stated that “no one should bear the brunt of injustice for merely writing a bad report about me or calling me names.”
The groups gave the government seven days to withdraw the charges, warning that they would otherwise pursue legal remedies, including at the ECOWAS Court of Justice.