TikToker Sultan Detained Over Doctored Tinubu Video, Denied Legal Access

Nigerian TikToker Gali Ismail Abdullahi, popularly known as Sultan, is currently being held in Keffi Prison after his arrest by the Department of State Services (DSS) over a doctored video falsely linking him to a death wish against President Bola Tinubu.

Sultan was picked up on July 23 in Kano and taken to Abuja without any formal charges. He was later arraigned on a two-count charge and remanded. His lawyer, Hamza N. Dantani, has accused the DSS of gross misconduct, including illegal detention, denial of legal access, and a manipulated court process.

Dantani claims the viral clip that led to Sultan’s arrest was deliberately edited to misrepresent his comments. According to him, the original video—still available on Sultan’s TikTok page—was actually referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, not President Tinubu.

“The video was altered, and an AI-generated image of Tinubu on a hospital bed was inserted to create a false narrative,” Dantani told SaharaReporters.

He also revealed that the DSS ignored a court summons and secretly brought in a different magistrate to handle the case when the original magistrate was unavailable. Sultan’s legal team was reportedly kept in the dark throughout the process, with the DSS arranging a different lawyer without informing them.

Efforts to gain access to Sultan while in custody were denied, and a bail request submitted by Dantani under constitutional provisions has yet to be acknowledged by the DSS.

The case took a darker turn on July 29 when DSS officers allegedly stormed the Keffi Correctional Facility and, without a court order, forced Sultan to hand over passwords to his phone, email, and cloud accounts. A formal petition has been submitted to the DSS Director-General over the alleged privacy violation.

Dantani argued that such actions are unconstitutional and any evidence obtained without legal backing is inadmissible in court.

Meanwhile, a review of Sultan’s older TikTok content reveals no threats, vulgarity, or hate speech against President Tinubu. In one of his recent videos, Sultan calls on the president to honor his campaign promises and use power wisely, urging empathy for the masses.

He also fact-checked a resurfaced 2023 statement where Tinubu criticized Nigerians for consuming cow skin instead of turning it into leather goods, asking if any meaningful exports had begun since Tinubu assumed office.

The case has raised concerns among human rights groups and free speech advocates, who argue that the actions of the DSS may be aimed at silencing critical voices online.