The Federal Government on Thursday opened its case against activist and publisher Omoyele Sowore over alleged cyberbullying of President Bola Tinubu, with a Department of State Services operative testifying before the Federal High Court in Abuja about social media posts the defendant allegedly made in August 2025.
Sowore is standing trial in suit number FHC/ABJ/CR/484/2025 before Justice Mohammed Umar, following posts he allegedly made on his X and Facebook accounts that the prosecution claims constitute cyberbullying of the Nigerian president.
Led in evidence by prosecution counsel Akinlolu Kehinde, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, the first prosecution witness, Cyril Nosike, told the court that he is a DSS operative attached to the agency’s cyberspace monitoring centre with responsibility for monitoring online activities round the clock.
Nosike testified that on August 26, 2025, he monitored posts allegedly made by Sowore on his X and Facebook accounts during routine surveillance operations.
According to the witness, one of the monitored posts 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.”
The DSS operative told the court that the handle @officialABAT belongs to President Tinubu, who serves as Nigeria’s president and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
Nosike said he downloaded the video containing the post and saved it on a flash drive, alongside a certificate of compliance with the Evidence Act requirements for electronic evidence.
The flash drive was admitted in evidence and marked as Exhibit A, while the certificate of compliance was admitted as Exhibit B. The video clip was subsequently played in the open courtroom during Thursday’s proceedings.
Objection and Court Ruling
During the testimony, defence counsel Marshal Abubakar objected to the prosecution’s line of questioning, describing certain questions as leading and therefore improper under the rules of evidence.
Justice Umar upheld the objection and directed the prosecution to ensure that questions followed the natural flow of the witness’s testimony without suggesting answers or putting words in the witness’s mouth.
Nosike further testified that after the post was made public, there were widespread reactions from members of the public on both X and Facebook platforms.
He said he took screenshots of the reactions and obtained another certificate of compliance, which were admitted in evidence as Exhibits C and C1.
The witness also told the court that he wrote official letters to the owners of X and Facebook through their designated email addresses, requesting that the allegedly offensive post be taken down because it was generating public tension.
Screenshots of the letters sent to the social media platforms were admitted in evidence as Exhibit D, while a demand letter for retraction sent to Sowore was marked as Exhibit E.
According to Nosike’s testimony, Sowore subsequently posted the contents of the DSS letters on his social media accounts, which again generated reactions from Nigerians both within and outside the country.
He said the reactions were disparaging and portrayed the DSS in a negative light. Screenshots of these reactions were admitted in evidence as Exhibit F.
A mild disagreement arose during Thursday’s proceedings when the prosecution applied for Sowore’s mobile phone to be taken from him, alleging disregard for court rules prohibiting the use of electronic devices during proceedings.
Sowore argued that it was not a crime to have his phone with him in court, challenging the prosecution’s application.
Ruling on the issue, Justice Umar ordered Sowore to hand over the phone to his defence counsel, noting that electronic gadgets were not permitted during court proceedings in line with standard courtroom protocols.
“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,” Justice Umar stated.
At the close of the witness’s testimony, the defence team applied for an adjournment to enable it prepare adequately for cross-examination of the DSS operative.
The prosecution opposed the application, arguing that all the relevant documents had been front-loaded in accordance with court rules and that the defence was not taken by surprise by the evidence presented.
Justice Umar adjourned the case until January 27, 2026, for cross-examination of the first prosecution witness and continuation of the trial.
Sowore was re-arraigned on amended cyberbullying charges after the Federal Government dropped charges against social media platforms Meta and X, limiting the prosecution to allegations arising from his social media posts concerning President Tinubu.
The activist and founder of the online news platform Sahara Reporters has been a vocal critic of successive Nigerian governments and has faced various legal challenges over the years related to his activism and public commentary.
The case represents one of several prosecutions under Nigeria’s cybercrime laws, which have been criticized by civil society groups and media freedom advocates as tools for suppressing dissent and critical commentary on public officials. However, government officials have defended such prosecutions as necessary to maintain public order and protect individuals from online abuse.
The Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015 criminalizes various online activities, including cyberstalking and cyberbullying, with penalties including fines and imprisonment. Section 24 of the Act specifically addresses cyberstalking, making it an offence to send messages or posts that cause annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, ill will or needless anxiety to another person.
The trial continues on January 27, 2026.
