Tony Asuquo writes that for politician and online publisher, Omoyele Sowore the past two weeks have seen him suffer what could easily pass as the two biggest setbacks since beginning his activism career in 1989, when he was admitted into the University of Lagos.
Early warning signs of the “setbacks” began on March 17, 2026. The setting was the Federal High Court, Abuja. Justice Mohammed Umar was presiding over a matter brought against Sowore by the Department of State Services, DSS. Sowore had late last year made social media posts calling President Bola Tinubu a “criminal.”
The DSS, a security organization vested with the responsibility of according the president physical and psychological protection, made several appeals for Sowore to pull down the “offensive” posts. The politician, who ran against Tinubu at the 2023 presidential polls, stood his ground.
Thereafter, the DSS dragged him to court. The secret police prayed the court, to among other things, determine if it is proper for Sowore to call the president a criminal, in violation of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act.
Ever since the matter began, once noted Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, who is counsel to the DSS, Sowore and his lawyer had been employing delay tactics to make the matter drag on unnecessarily.
On a particular court sitting, neither Sowore nor his counsel showed up, a move which appeared frustrating for the prosecution.
Also Read: Court threatens to revoke Sowore’s bail, issue arrest warrant
On March 17, whilst trying to fix a date for the next hearing. Sowore’s lawyer, Marshall Abubakar rejected all the dates proposed by the judge.
At a point, Abubakar literally took over proceedings at the court. He regaled the temple of justice with tales of his judicial exploits against those he dubbed “Goliath lawyers.”
Midway into his address, apparently carried away by the silence of the judge, Abubakar began thumping his fist on the table before him, at the same time raising his voice. The judge frowned at the defence lawyer’s unruly behaviour.
Let us fast-forward to Thursday April 2, 2026. The setting, again, was the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Sowore had filed a lawsuit against the DSS, its Director General, Oluwatosin Adeola Ajayi, as well as against Meta Corp. In the suit, the politician claimed that Meta’s decision to pull down of his “offensive” post on Tinubu at the request of the DSS amounted to a breach of his fundamental human rights.
However, sadly for Sowore, the court thought otherwise. In the court’s opinion, his suit was frivolous. As punishment, the court fined him ₦1.5 million (made up of N500,000 each to the DSS, its DG, and Meta Incorporated).
For those who have followed Sowore’s activism decades-old trajectory, this was the first time he would be losing at the courts. For a man used to getting judgements and rulings against government and her agencies, the N1.5 million fine was a huge debilitating blow to Sowore. Unknown to the politician and activist, another blow was to come.
The following day, still smarting from the fine slammed on him by the Federal High Court, another blow hit Sowore. This time the blow came, not from the courts, but from fellow activist Martins Otse, popularly called
Verydarkman or VDM.
VDM had been embroiled in a bitter disagreement with cryptocurrency entrepreneur Linus Ifejirika, CEO of Blord Group. The battle of supremacy between VDM and BLord took a very dangerous twist when the former sued the entrepreneur for sundry crimes, including forgery, criminal conspiracy and impersonation.
BLord was on April 1, 2026, arraigned before the Federal High Court, Abuja, and was later remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre. VDM celebrated Blord’s remand on social media.
Responding, Sowore made scathing remarks about VDM’s celebration of Blord’s detention. “No one should celebrate the incarceration of any person under the colour of law,” stated Sowore. He pledged to work toward discontinuing the case and securing Blord’s release.
Sowore’s remarks didn’t sit well with VDM. He fired back, accusing Sowore of not reaching out privately to him. He expressed disappointment that Sowore, who had always claimed to be an advocate of the rule of law, didn’t appear concerned that Blord impersonated him, forged documents, and blackmailed him.
VDM warned that if Sowore as much as impersonated him or used his identity without his consent, he would suffer the same fate as Blord.
Taking to Instagram, VDM fired: “If you are truly your father’s son, Omoyele Sowore, try what Blord did. Use my picture on a billboard or to promote anything without my approval, I’ll send you to prison. If you are truly your father’s son, go ahead and do what Blord did; you will learn a new thing, the hard way.
“This will be the biggest battle you have fought since you started activism. This is not government activism. Use your tongue to count your teeth, uncle. If you are truly your father’s son and you think you will discontinue the case, I do not care who you are, but I am telling you, try what Blord did and see what I will do. You are mad.”
Apparently aware that he’s met his match, Sowore, who is 23 years older than VDM, in his response to the threat of sending him to prison, made light of it thus: “Prison has been my home since 1990. I’ve never been afraid of going to prison and if Verydarkman says he wants to send me to prison no problem, let him do it fast if he has the capacity.”
It remains to be seen if there will be a de-escalation of the cold war between Sowore and VDM. What is clear is that the last two weeks have been very eventful for Sowore, who is making his third shot at the Nigerian Presidency. In 2019, Sowore polled 33,953 votes. In 2023, it dropped to 14,608 votes. Life is full of surprises. Who knows? Sowore might pull up more surprises in 2027!
Asuquo is a veteran journalist and lives in Uyo
