Omoyele Sowore, a human rights activist, allegedly defames President Bola Tinubu, was the first witness called into the trial, which was called by the Department of State Services (DSS).
A witness, an official from the DSS, Cyril Nosike, told the court that a false statement that Sowore made against President Bola Tinubu, calling him a criminal, sparked unrest and threatened public safety, was being made.
Nosike claimed that he discovered and monitored a post by the defendant, Sowore, on his X platform while performing his duties on August 26, 2025, at the cyberspace monitoring center, which the prosecuting attorney, Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), led in evidence.
According to Sowore, the post stated that President Tinubu was “This criminal @officialABAT, the X handle of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces” and that he had traveled to Brazil to claim that his government had declared there was no more corruption under his rule in Nigeria. What an outrageous lie!
READ MORE: FG Re-Arraigns Sowore On Two-Count Amended Charge.
The witness claimed that when he saw the video that Sowore allegedly posted, under which it was written, he downloaded it, saved it on a flash drive, and set the name XYZ.
The witness identified the flash drive and a certificate of compliance as the items he referenced, and the prosecuting attorney then applied to have them in evidence.
Marshall Abubakar, the defense attorney, stated that he would reserve his objection, which he intended to raise at the appropriate time.
The flash drive and the certificate of evidence were later acknowledged by Justice Mohammed Umar.
The judge granted Kehinde’s request for the flash drive to be played in open court for everyone to see. Afterward, the flash drive’s video was played.
The video featured President Tinubu addressing Brazilian businesses about the accomplishments of his administration and urging them to invest in Nigeria, claiming that there is now a conducive business climate free of corruption.
The witness claimed that he also analyzed the public’s responses to Sowore’s posting of the President’s video.
According to the responses to the post, the DSS sent official letters to Facebook (Meta) owners via email addresses.
In his opinion, the letters requested that Sowore’s post be removed because it was causing conflict on social media.
Nosike further explained to the court that the defendant’s attorneys acknowledged receipt by sending an official letter to the DSS. He claimed that Sowore was required to resign the inciting post in the letter.
Even though the letter was a private document, Sowore also shared a screenshot of it on his Facebook page.
The witness claimed that Nigerians both domestically and internationally were upset by the letter Sowore posted, adding that the responses were demeaning and presented a negative image of the service.
The court accepted the witness’s testimony, and Kehinde then offered copies of the letters mentioned by the witness as well as screenshots of Sowore’s posts.
According to the witness, Sowore’s inciting posts hampered the work of DSS and other security organizations.
The court invited Sowore’s attorney, Marshall Abubakar, to begin cross-examination of the witness after the court concluded his evidence-in-chief.
Abubakar requested that he have enough time to study the witness’s testimony before cross-examination him.
The judge agreed to the case’s adjournment despite Abubakar’s request for a February date, but rejected Abubakar’s request because the defense’s attorney claimed there was no justification for it.
Source: Channels TV
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