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The Yoruba Union, a socio-cultural organization also known as ìgbìnmó májékóbájé ilé-yorùbá, has criticized the State Service Department (DSS) for asking the social media platform X to deactivate activist accounts and journalists Omoyle Sowore.
In a statement issued on Sunday and signed by the organizers, Olusola Badero, and the Director of the House, Princess Balogun, the union described the step as a clear case of the wrong priority, on the grounds that the intelligence agency had failed to overcome terrorism and unsafe but instead chose to target votes that call for accountability in government.
The group urged X to ignore DSS requests, emphasizing that Sowore did not threaten national security. “It is ridiculous that the body that boasts itself as an agent of intelligence collection pursuing a sowore account when Bandits openly upload a video of their cruelty in Tiktok, are celebrated online, and still out of control,” the statement said.
The Yoruba Union accused DSS to reduce itself to become a “assignment body” for politicians rather than operating as an independent security agency. Furthermore, equating the administration of President Tinubu President with a repressive style of the former President of Muhammadu Buhari, insisting that the civilian space is being detained.
Citing historical examples, the group questioned why Sowore’s criticism must be considered a threat to national security when past leaders tolerate similar statements. “Is DSS asleep in 2011 when Tinubu himself described the President of Goodluck Jonathan as a drunken fisherman who will be reversed? Jonathan tolerates freedom of speech and differences of opinion. Why is Tinubu tolerant today?” it asked.
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The statement also condemned what he called “illegal clampdown” on Sowore’s financial assets, accused that the freezing of his bank account by the police under the direction of the Inspector General was the same as intimidation.
Reaffirming its attitude, the union said that it would not allow the government to complete activists, journalists, or critics who spoke the truth to power. “The voice of Sowore, and indeed the voice of the people of Nigeria, cannot and should not be silenced,” he said.
The union further urged DSS and the federal government to direct their energy towards the demolition of terrorist networks and handle corruption, warning that journalists and civilian activists are not the enemy of the state.
Calling for international human rights organizations to record what is described as a shrinking Nigerian civilian space, the Joruba Union states that efforts to criminalize activism will be opposed by the Nigerians.
