A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by politician and publisher Omoyele Sowore against the Department of State Services (DSS), its Director General, and Meta Platforms Incorporated.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, April 2, Justice Mohammed Umar ruled against Sowore on all counts, refused the reliefs he sought, and struck out the case for lacking merit.
Sowore had claimed that Meta, allegedly acting on the directive of the DSS, removed a Facebook post in which he referred to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a “criminal” and subsequently deactivated his account. The post, dated August 26, 2025, criticized remarks attributed to the president during a visit to Brazil.
He argued that the removal of the post and deactivation of his account without prior notice violated his rights to fair hearing, freedom of expression, and association.
However, Justice Umar held that the right to fair hearing applies only to proceedings before a court or legally established tribunal, and not to decisions made by non-judicial bodies.
The court further ruled that the actions of the DSS and Meta did not infringe on Sowore’s rights to freedom of expression or association, noting that such rights can be limited to protect the reputation and rights of others.
Justice Umar also found that Meta acted independently in line with its internal policies, rather than under directives from the DSS.
On the reliefs sought, the court held that Sowore failed to prove that his constitutional rights were violated or under threat, and therefore was not entitled to any of the claims.
The suit was consequently dismissed in its entirety for lack of merit.
Following applications by counsel to the DSS and Meta, the court awarded costs totaling N1.5 million against Sowore, with N500,000 payable to each of the three respondents.
