Fiery human rights activist and African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has called for the immediate removal of the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Tosin Ajayi, accusing him of allegedly abusing the powers of the intelligence agency to pursue a personal vendetta against him.
Sowore made the demand in an elaborate statement posted on X on Tuesday, in which he accused Ajayi of becoming increasingly desperate as the criminal case against him over his criticism of President Bola Tinubu continues to face difficulties.
According to the activist, developments surrounding his prosecution have exposed what he described as a disturbing misuse of the DSS and its powers.
“Something is eating away at @OfficialDSSNG DG Tosin Ajayi and his increasingly desperate conduct shows it,” Sowore wrote.
He said he had warned Ajayi from the outset about what he described as the “disastrous ‘Tinubu is a criminal’ prosecution” brought against him, stressing that the position of DSS Director-General was not Ajayi’s personal property.
“I reminded him that the office of DSS DG is not his personal estate; he occupies it at the pleasure of the Nigerian people,” he said.
Sowore further alleged that Ajayi had privately boasted that he would secure his conviction before Justice M.G. Umar.
“Yet, I was reliably informed that he boasted that he would get Justice M.G. Umar to jail me,” the activist alleged.
He also accused prosecutors led by Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, of securing his remand at the Kuje Correctional Centre, where he claimed he was exposed to inmates suffering from tuberculosis.
Sowore alleged that DSS operatives had earlier invaded the Federal High Court, abducted him at gunpoint and kept him in the basement of the court.
“His prosecutors led by Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN got me sent to Kuje Prison. I was subjected to conditions that exposed me to inmates suffering from tuberculosis,” he wrote.
“Earlier that day, his operatives had invaded the Federal High Court and abducted me at gunpoint and held me to ransom at the court’s basement.”
The AAC presidential candidate also accused DSS operatives of unlawfully detaining his assistant, Zainab Sodiq, after his release.
According to him, the operatives seized their phones and confiscated a drone he had been using for election monitoring.
Sowore further alleged that Sodiq was threatened with continued detention unless he deleted social media posts criticising Ajayi and accusing the DSS of acting unlawfully.
“Upon my release, his operatives unlawfully detained my assistant, Zainab Sodiq, seized our phones and confiscated my drone used for election monitoring,” he alleged.
“There were even boasts that she would not be released unless I deleted my tweets criticizing Tosin Ajayi and calling the @OfficialDSSNG lawless.”
He said the situation later became a subject of confrontation in court when his lead counsel, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, SAN, challenged what Sowore described as the actions of the security agency.
“When our lead counsel, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, SAN, confronted these shenanigans in court, the judge threatened to ‘deal with’ him,” Sowore alleged.
“But we DID NOT BACK DOWN.”
Sowore also alleged that individuals were mobilised and paid to stage demonstrations against him at the Federal High Court during the proceedings.
According to him, the protests continued for several days before the alleged scheme was exposed and the demonstrators eventually left.
“Then came the protests at the Federal High Court, people we knew were paid to demonstrate against me came in droves. They lasted for days before the scheme was exposed and they eventually packed up and left,” he said.
The activist maintained that the prosecution had now “spectacularly run aground”, accusing the DSS of resorting to what he called a “bizarre legal invention” of supposedly “pausing” a criminal trial.
His latest attack on the DSS Director-General comes days after Sowore raised an alarm over what he described as surveillance of his movements in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where he attended the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference.
Sowore had disclosed the IMEI number of a SpyTec GPS GL300 tracking device which he said was discovered underneath a vehicle used by his team in the city.
He identified the device’s IMEI number as 860201067972185 and vowed to investigate its origin and establish who allegedly deployed it.
“We will keep tracking the trackers at @OfficialDSSNG until we establish exactly who deployed this device and we know their intention already,” he had written.
According to Sowore, the device was discovered after he and his associates noticed what they considered suspicious movements following his appearance at a gathering organised by the Kay Hikers group.
He said he subsequently switched vehicles, after which the tracking device was allegedly discovered underneath the security vehicle.
However, Sowore has not provided independent evidence establishing that the DSS deployed the device, while the agency has not publicly confirmed that it placed the tracker on the vehicle.
In his latest statement, Sowore nevertheless linked the alleged surveillance to what he described as a broader campaign against him by Ajayi.
He alleged that the DSS Director-General’s attempt to monitor his movements during the NBA conference had failed.
“But Tosin Ajayi still cannot rest,” Sowore wrote.
Sowore also accused the DSS leadership of allegedly relying on public relations campaigns to defend Ajayi amid the controversies.
He claimed that media appearances and press conferences had been organised by individuals he described as “praise-singers”, including persons presenting themselves as leaders of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and the National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS).
The activist questioned why the head of a national intelligence organisation would allegedly require such public displays of support.
“Why does the head of a supposedly powerful intelligence agency need this much manufactured validation?” he asked.
Sowore insisted that the DSS must function as a professional national security institution operating within the law rather than becoming an instrument of personal retaliation or public relations.
“The DSS is a national security institution, NOT Tosin Ajayi’s personal revenge machine or public-relations department,” he stated.
“Something is eating away at Tosin Ajayi, and this spectacle is becoming unhealthy for the DSS and dangerous for Nigeria.”
He consequently demanded Ajayi’s immediate removal from office.
“He should be relieved of his duties IMMEDIATELY,” Sowore said.
“Nigeria needs a professional intelligence service governed by law, not one driven by the ego, insecurities and political misadventures of its Director-General.”
Sowore, a prominent critic of successive Nigerian administrations and the presidential candidate of the AAC, remains active in his campaign for the presidency ahead of the 2027 general elections.
His latest allegations come amid his continued criticism of the Tinubu administration, security agencies and what he describes as the misuse of state security powers against political activists and government critics.
As of the time of filing this report, the DSS and its Director-General, Tosin Ajayi, had not publicly responded to the latest allegations contained in Sowore’s statement.