{"id":171890,"date":"2025-07-31T10:14:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T09:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/amnesty-international-slams-dss"},"modified":"2025-07-31T10:14:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T09:14:00","slug":"amnesty-international-slams-dss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/amnesty-international-slams-dss","title":{"rendered":"Amnesty International slams DSS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Amnesty International has condemned the ongoing detention of Nigerian social media personality, Ghali Isma\u2019il, also known as Sultan, over a video he posted discussing President Bola Tinubu\u2019s health.<\/p>\n<p>The human rights organization described the arrest by the Department of State Services (DSS) as an outright abuse of authority and a violation of civil liberties.<\/p>\n<p>In a post shared on its official Facebook page, Amnesty called for Ghali\u2019s freedom, stating: \u201cFree Ghali Isma\u2019il Now!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The group labelled the actions of the security operatives as both illegal and oppressive.<\/p>\n<p>Isma\u2019il, who remains in custody at the Keffi Correctional Centre, is reportedly facing what Amnesty described as a \u201csham trial based on bogus charges.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The group insists that the process is a clear breach of his fundamental rights and has urged authorities to release him unconditionally.<\/p>\n<p>Highlighting recent developments, Amnesty disclosed that DSS agents on 29 July 2025 invaded the prison and coerced Ghali into handing over access to his iCloud, phones, and social media accounts \u2014 all without any legal representation present.<\/p>\n<p>According to Amnesty, \u201cThis unlawful act has not only devastating impact on right to privacy but also profoundly affects the rights to freedom of expression, association.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The group expressed deep concern over the increasing trend of censorship and intimidation targeting online voices in Nigeria.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPersistent state repression by the DSS&#8230; creates an environment of self-censorship and fear \u2014 depriving people of the right to freedom of expression,\u201d Amnesty warned.<\/p>\n<p>The organization further criticized attempts to suppress public discourse on social media, stating:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUsing repressive tactics to control what Nigerians do on social media is an unacceptable violation of human rights. This must stop.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ghali was arrested by DSS operatives following the circulation of a video on a TikTok account @bola_asiwaju, where he alleged that President Tinubu had died due to poisoning complications.<\/p>\n<p>The federal government responded by filing a two-count charge against him, accusing him of spreading false information and inciting public unrest.<\/p>\n<p>Amnesty has reiterated its demand that the Nigerian government \u201cimmediately and unconditionally release Ghali Isma\u2019il and drop all plans to put him through a sham trial.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The arrest and prosecution of the online critic have sparked widespread criticism of the government\u2019s approach to dissent and free speech.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\">Nigeria<\/a> Follow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/\">Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. Amnesty International has condemned the ongoing detention of Nigerian social media personality, Ghali Isma\u2019il, also known as Sultan, over a video he posted discussing President Bola Tinubu\u2019s health. The human rights organization described the arrest by the Department of State Services (DSS) as an outright abuse of authority and a violation of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":171889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[1570,2140,254],"class_list":["post-171890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-nigeria-2","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Amnesty International slams DSS - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/amnesty-international-slams-dss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Amnesty International slams DSS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. Amnesty International has condemned the ongoing detention of Nigerian social media personality, Ghali Isma\u2019il, also known as Sultan, over a video he posted discussing President Bola Tinubu\u2019s health. The human rights organization described the arrest by the Department of State Services (DSS) as an outright abuse of authority and a violation of [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/amnesty-international-slams-dss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-31T09:14:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/amnesty-international-slams-dss#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/amnesty-international-slams-dss\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Amnesty International slams DSS\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-31T09:14:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/amnesty-international-slams-dss\"},\"wordCount\":390,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/amnesty-international-slams-dss#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/07\/MohamadReza1753956865.826418.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Nigeria\",\"Nigeria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/amnesty-international-slams-dss#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/amnesty-international-slams-dss\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/amnesty-international-slams-dss\",\"name\":\"Amnesty International slams DSS - 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Amnesty International has condemned the ongoing detention of Nigerian social media personality, Ghali Isma\u2019il, also known as Sultan, over a video he posted discussing President Bola Tinubu\u2019s health. 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