DSS STATEMENT ON SOWORE’S REMAND: A DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO REWRITE REALITY AND MISLEAD THE PUBLIC

PRESS STATEMENT

DSS STATEMENT ON SOWORE’S REMAND: A DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO REWRITE REALITY AND MISLEAD THE PUBLIC

The Take It Back Movement condemns in the strongest possible terms the laughable, contradictory and self-serving statement issued by the Department of State Services (DSS) regarding the remand of Omoyele Sowore and the disgraceful events that unfolded at the Federal High Court, Abuja, on June 22, 2026.

The statement is a crude attempt to rewrite history, distort facts that were witnessed by journalists, lawyers, activists and ordinary Nigerians, and whitewash the agency’s increasingly notorious role in the persecution of dissenting voices in Nigeria.

What Nigerians watched on Monday was not a demonstration of professionalism or respect for the rule of law. Rather, it was yet another troubling display of state intimidation targeted at a citizen whose only offence is his unwavering commitment to exposing corruption, demanding accountability and speaking truth to power.

The DSS wants the public to believe that it has acted with restraint and civility throughout this politically motivated prosecution. Yet the same agency is prosecuting a citizen over comments made about a public office holder, seeking to criminalize criticism and political expression in a constitutional democracy. The claim that this prosecution is merely about obtaining a “judicial interpretation” is an insult to the intelligence of Nigerians.

The real issue before the Nigerian public is not whether Omoyele Sowore criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The real issue is whether citizens still possess the constitutional right to criticize those who exercise political power over them without fear of harassment, prosecution, detention or intimidation by state security agencies.

The DSS statement conveniently ignores the growing public concern regarding the weaponization of state institutions against critics of the government. It equally fails to explain why an agency funded by taxpayers and established for national security duties continues to devote enormous resources to pursuing political dissenters while insecurity, banditry, terrorism, kidnappings and violent crimes continue to threaten the lives of millions of Nigerians.

More disturbingly, the DSS statement exposes its own contradictions. While claiming not to have opposed Sowore’s bail and while presenting itself as a neutral observer of court proceedings, the agency simultaneously seeks to justify a prosecution that should never have existed in the first place. One cannot pretend to be detached from a process while serving as its principal driver.

The attempt to portray the events of Monday as routine court procedures also collapses under the weight of publicly available evidence and eyewitness accounts. Nigerians witnessed confusion, tension and actions that raised serious concerns about due process and the treatment of a defendant whose rights remain protected under the Constitution regardless of the charges against him.

The Take It Back Movement notes that this is not an isolated incident. It forms part of a broader pattern of repression aimed at silencing opposition voices, intimidating activists, shrinking civic space and discouraging Nigerians from exercising their constitutional freedoms of speech, association and peaceful political participation.

We therefore reject the DSS narrative in its entirety. Nigerians do not need state propaganda to understand what they witnessed. No carefully crafted press release can erase the facts, suppress public memory or conceal the increasingly authoritarian tendencies being normalized under the guise of law enforcement.

We reiterate our demand for Tinubu to immediately put an end to the shameful persecution of his political opponent, and Presidential Candidate of the AAC, Omoyele Sowore.

We further call on democratic forces, civil society organizations, professional associations and all lovers of freedom to remain vigilant and resist every attempt to criminalize dissent in Nigeria.
History has repeatedly shown that no amount of intimidation can extinguish the legitimate aspirations of a people determined to be free.

The struggle continues.

Signed:
Juwon Sanyaolu
National Coordinator
Take It Back Movement
June 23, 2026