DSS arraigns man in Lagos for urging military to overthrow Tinubu on social media

• Paul Jibrin Oweleke was arrested for allegedly using social media to call on the Nigerian military to remove President Bola Tinubu from office.

• Prosecutors say Oweleke urged the military to emulate the coup in Burkina Faso, while charging him under the Cybercrimes Act for messages allegedly capable of causing public disorder.

• The case comes months after security agencies said they foiled an actual coup plot against Tinubu and charged several suspects with terrorism and treason-related offences.

A Lagos man is facing criminal charges for using social media to call on the Nigerian military to overthrow President Bola Tinubu, an arraignment that arrives months after security agencies foiled what they described as an actual coup attempt against the same president.

The Department of State Services brought Paul Jibrin Oweleke before Justice Akintoye Aluko of the Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday on two counts: alleged cybercrime and transmission of messages capable of inciting public disorder.

Oweleke pleaded not guilty to both charges and was remanded in custody.

According to the DSS, Oweleke used his social media platform, Oweleke TV, to broadcast messages urging the Nigerian military to remove Tinubu from office in the same manner that soldiers seized power in Burkina Faso. 

The prosecution described the messages as subversive and said they were intended to cause disaffection, incite members of the public and undermine law and order. The alleged offence dates to May 23, 2025.

The arraignment takes place against a political background. Nigerian security agencies arrested at least 38 individuals, including senior military officers across the Army, Navy and Air Force, in connection with a foiled coup plot uncovered in September 2025, which investigators described as one of the most serious threats to Nigeria's democratic order in decades.

By April 2026, Nigerian authorities had charged six people, including a retired major-general and a serving police inspector, with terrorism and treason over the alleged plot. 

A seventh suspect, former Bayelsa State Governor Timipre Sylva, was named in court documents but remained at large.

The DSS, the same agency now prosecuting Oweleke, was centrally involved in uncovering that real plot. The DSS Director-General personally briefed the then Chief of Army Staff after the agency independently gathered intelligence about serving officers planning to destabilise the government.

Oweleke's case sits at the intersection of free expression and national security, a tension that Nigerian courts have not always resolved consistently. 

The charges are brought under the Cybercrimes Act, which criminalises the transmission of messages that bully, threaten or harass, or that are intended to cause public disorder.

Critics of such prosecutions argue the law is frequently used to silence dissent rather than address genuine security threats. 

Supporters counter that incitement to military intervention, regardless of the platform, carries real consequences in a country that has experienced multiple coups and recently survived what authorities say was a credible attempt to violently seize power.

Oweleke's defence counsel has filed a bail application, and the matter returns to court on June 16.

READ NEXT: 'We were effectively bankrupt': MTN CEO reveals company nearly shut down before tariff increase in Lagos