Festus Ogun, a Lagos-based human rights lawyer, has filed a lawsuit against Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos state, for blocking him on the microblogging platform, X (formerly Twitter).
In the suit filed before the federal high court in Lagos, Ogun described the governor’s action as “wrongful, unconstitutional, arbitrary and a gross violation” of his fundamental rights to freedom of expression and freedom from discrimination on the basis of political opinion.
The lawyer argued that Sanwo-Olu, as a democratically elected public official, cannot lawfully prevent citizens from engaging with his verified social media handles, which he uses in his official capacity.
Ogun asked the court to compel the governor to issue a public apology on his X account for what he described as the “gross violation” of his rights and the “emotional trauma and mental distress” caused by the action. He is also seeking an order mandating the governor to unblock his account and a perpetual injunction restraining Sanwo-Olu from blocking him, or any other citizen, on platforms where he operates official social media accounts.
“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 violation of the Applicant’s fundamental right to freedom of expression,” the suit reads.
“A DECLARATION that the Respondent’s blocking of the Applicant on X. owing to the Applicant’s political opinion and criticism of the Respondent, is wrongful, unconstitutional, arbitrary and constitutes a gross violation of Applicant’s fundamental right to freedom from discrimination on the basis of political opinion.
“AN ORDER mandating/directing the Respondent to immediately unblock the Applicant’s X account (@mrfestusogun).
“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 wherein the Respondent operates official social media handles.
“A PUBLIC APOLOGY to the Applicant, by the Respondent, published on his X (formerly “Twitter”) handle (@jidesanwoolu) for the gross violation of the Applicant’s fundamental rights to freedom of expression and its associated emotional trauma and mental distress; not later than 7 days after judgment.”
The lawyer recalled that in 2021, he discovered that the governor had blocked him on X following his “constructive criticisms of policies and demands for accountability regarding the October 2020 #EndSARS massacre perpetrated under Sanwo-Olu’s watch.”
Melissa Enoch
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