SERAP, Amnesty Urge Tinubu to Withdraw Cybercrime, Defamation Charges Against Sowore, X, Facebook
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and Amnesty International have called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to order the immediate withdrawal of cybercrime and defamation charges filed against activist Omoyele Sowore, social media platform X (formerly Twitter), and Facebook’s parent company, Meta.
In a joint letter dated September 20, 2025, and signed by SERAP Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, and Amnesty International Nigeria Director, Isa Sanusi, the groups urged the President to instruct the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, to discontinue the case.
The letter described the prosecution as an attempt to weaponize the justice system to stifle dissent and muzzle free expression through Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs). The groups further asked Tinubu to direct the Department of State Services (DSS) and other security agencies to stop using the courts as tools of harassment against critics.
The human rights bodies also pressed for urgent preparation of anti-SLAPP legislation to protect Nigerians from what they described as “abusive lawsuits” by law enforcement agencies.
According to them, the charges—two under the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) (Amendment) Act 2024 and three under the Criminal Code—stem from Sowore’s refusal to delete social media posts critical of the President. The case, filed on September 16, 2025, at the Federal High Court in Abuja, was brought on behalf of the DSS and the Federal Government by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
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“The weaponization 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,” the groups stated.
They noted that a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of provisions of the Cybercrime Act is currently pending before the ECOWAS Court of Justice, and urged Nigerian authorities to refrain from enforcing the law until the case is determined.
SERAP and Amnesty warned that SLAPP lawsuits and criminal defamation are neither necessary nor proportionate in a democratic society, stressing that politicians and public officials must tolerate robust criticism.
Citing Tinubu’s own Democracy Day address on June 12, 2025, in which he declared that “no one should bear the brunt of injustice for merely writing a bad report about me or calling me names,” the groups reminded the President of his stated commitment to protect fundamental freedoms.
They further recalled that the ECOWAS Court in March 2022 had declared Section 24 of the old Cybercrime Act “arbitrary, vague, and repressive” and ordered its repeal. While the 2024 amendment removed the section, they argued it failed to eliminate provisions that could still be abused to silence dissent.
The groups gave the government seven days to comply with their demands, warning that they may take “all appropriate legal actions” before the ECOWAS Court if the charges are not withdrawn.
SERAP and Amnesty also pointed to similar lawsuits previously filed by the DSS, including one against Professor Pat Utomi in May 2025, and another against SERAP itself in 2024, as evidence of a growing pattern of using SLAPPs to intimidate critics.
“The use of such lawsuits poses serious risks to democracy and the rule of law as they chill public participation and erode citizens’ confidence in democratic institutions,” the letter emphasized.
By PRNigeria
