Human rights lawyer, Festus Ogun, has filed a lawsuit against Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, at the Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly “violating his fundamental rights by blocking him on his verified X (formerly Twitter) account.”
In the suit marked FHC/L/CS/1739/25, which Ogun shared on his Facebook page on Friday, he claimed that the governor’s decision to block him in 2021 was triggered by his “constructive criticisms” and “demand for accountability” regarding the “October 2020 #EndSARS killings.”
Ogun wrote, “In 2021, I noticed that the Governor blocked me on his official X handle @jidesanwoolu owing to my constructive criticisms of his policies and demand for accountability in respect of the October 2020 #EndSARS Massacre.”
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He argued that being blocked has deprived him of “access to vital information” and that this “constitutes a violation of my right to receive information without interference.”
In his originating summons, the lawyer asked the court to declare the action “unconstitutional, arbitrary, and discriminatory.”
He sought “a declaration that, as a democratically-elected public office holder in Nigeria, the Respondent (@jidesanwoolu)’s blocking of the Applicant (@mrfestusogun), a citizen of Nigeria and resident of Lagos State, on X (formerly ‘Twitter’) is wrongful, unconstitutional, arbitrary and constitutes a gross.”
The lawsuit further prayed the court to compel Sanwo-Olu to unblock him, issue a public apology, and stop targeting critics online.
The suit read, “An order of perpetual injunction restraining the Respondent, his agents, privies or any other person or entity acting through or on his behalf, from further blocking the Applicant on X or any other social media platform.”
Ogun, who described himself as “haunted, traumatised and emotionally disturbed,” emphasized that the matter went beyond his personal grievance, saying, “This suit is not just about me. I have filed this lawsuit in furtherance of public interest and with the hope that it sets a precedent in our digital rights jurisprudence.”
The lawyer also invited the court to be guided by a 2019 ruling in the United States, stating, “I invited the Nigerian court to be persuaded by the decision of the US District Court in Knight First Amendment Institute v Trump where President Trump was found to be in violation of the 1st Amendment when he blocked US citizens for criticising him on Twitter.”
Ogun warned that “Intolerance to criticism and accountability is unconstitutional and undemocratic” and said that the narrative of authorities cracking down on critics must stop.
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