The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has today told a Federal Capital Territory High Court that the officials of Nigeria\u2019s secret police, the Department of State Services (DSS) who invaded our Abuja office used fake names and came with two unmarked vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n
SERAP had in September alleged that the DSS invaded its Abuja office, following the organisation\u2019s letter calling on president Bola Tinubu to probe allegations of corruption in the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and to reverse the increase in the pump price of petrol,<\/p>\n
The DSS then issued a statement claiming that the visit to SERAP\u2019s office was \u201ca routine investigation but two of its officials subsequently filed a defamation lawsuit against SERAP, claiming over N5 billion in damages.<\/p>\n
Tayo Oyetibo, SAN and Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN in the statements of defence and on oath filed on behalf of SERAP said in court that, \u201cone of the two DSS officials who came to SERAP\u2019s Abuja office disguised as \u2018Sarah David\u2019 to conceal their real identities, in furtherance of the agency\u2019s bad faith and sinister motives.\u201d<\/p>\n
The senior lawyers also told the court that \u201cthe DSS has no operational habit or practice of engaging with officials of NGOs, whether to establish a relationship with new leadership or for any social purpose whatsoever, and whether in the Federal Capital Territory or elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
The suit which came up today before Justice Yusuf Halilu, Court 13 has been adjourned to 29th of November 2024 for further hearing.<\/p>\n
SERAP\u2019s statement of defence and statement on oath, read in part: \u201cSERAP vehemently denies the claims by the DSS and its officials and at the trial shall urge the Court to dismiss the claims in their entirety for being frivolous and vexatious, with substantial costs in favour of SERAP.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the two DSS officials who entered SERAP\u2019s office signed the visitor\u2019s book as \u201cSarah David\u201d and not \u201cSarah John\u201d as constituted in this suit. A photocopy of the extract from the visitor\u2019s book showing that the official hid her true identity when she entered SERAP\u2019s premises is hereby pleaded and shall be relied upon during trial.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe DSS stormed SERAP\u2019s office demanding to see its management staff, demanding official documents in addition to interrogating and questioning its front desk officer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP shall during the trial of this suit challenge the competence of this suit on various grounds of law.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe statement published by SERAP was directed to the DSS as Nigeria\u2019s secret security agency which is notorious for various acts of harassment and intimidation of innocent citizens over the years, and not the DSS officials as claimed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUpon arrival at SERAP\u2019s office situate, the one DSS official parked her private car at the premises of SERAP in company of two unmarked vehicles occupied by some operatives of the DSS.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe DSS is not known to make social friends of NGOs dedicated to the promotion of human rights and accountability in Nigeria.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no new leadership in SERAP and that the normal practice for public institutions and law enforcement agencies including the DSS, when inviting NGOs to a meeting is to send letters of invitation to such organizations for record purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOn 17th September 2024 the DSS had, through their Solicitor, Dr Alex Izinyon SAN, written to SERAP in respect of this matter in which they stated that the publication of SERAP complained of in this Suit was made of and concerning the DSS, and not the two DSS officials.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBy a letter dated 23rd day of September 2024, SERAP\u2019s Solicitors Messrs Tayo Oyetibo LP rejected the demands of the DSS as contained in their Solicitor\u2019s letter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was after the exchange of correspondence between the DSS and SERAP, that the two DSS officials instituted this Suit based upon false facts that the publication was made of and concerning them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe DSS has made contradictory statements as to the purpose of their unannounced visit and presence in SERAP\u2019s Abuja office.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe DSS in their public statement which was issued on 10th September 2024 confirmed that they visited SERAP\u2019s office on 9th September 2024 \u2018on a routine investigation\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe purpose of the \u2018visit\u2019 to SERAP\u2019s Abuja office as contained in the said public statement by the DSS is completely different from the purpose contained in paragraph 5 of the claimants\u2019, to the effect that: \u2018in line with its practice of engaging with officials of non-governmental organisations operating in the FCT to establish a relationship with their new leadership, it directed its two officials to visit SERAP\u2019s office and invite its new leadership for a familiarisation meeting.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP does not have a front desk officer in its Abuja Office named \u201cRuth\u201d and as such puts the Claimants to the strictest proof of the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP has received written invitations for partnerships and collaborations from many public institutions which SERAP has honoured and SERAP has a good working relationship with many public institutions in Nigeria, including the Bureau of Public Service Reform, Code of Conduct Bureau, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, National Human Rights Commission and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the two DSS officials requested to see the incorporation documents of SERAP from the front desk officer and when told that the incorporation documents are in the custody of management staff, she requested to see senior officers of SERAP present and when asked why, she repeated that she needs to verify the incorporation documents before leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile in the Abuja office of SERAP, one of the two DSS officials received various phone calls from her colleagues stationed outside asking her for a signal to come in but she responded to the hearing of the front desk officer that the main people were not in the office and that they should remain stationed outside.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the two DSS officials specifically asked and queried the internal structure of SERAP while asking for the whereabouts of SERAP\u2019s director in addition to inquiring about the location from which the director issues public statements, such as the statement issued on the alleged corruption and mismanagement in the operation of NNPCL and the increase by the NNPCL in the pump price of petrol.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the interrogation got heated and out of hand, the front desk officer who was then visibly scared, harassed and intimidated by the presence of the one of the two DSS officials, and the questions, multiple calls received by her and her responses thereto, advised that an official letter be sent to SERAP.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOwing to the continuous and heated interrogation and improper interrogation tactics by the DSS official, and the presence of unmarked vehicles stationed outside the premises of SERAP, other staff present in the office were apprehensive and afraid, expecting an imminent raid by the operatives stationed outside the office.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe DSS official only left the office when the front desk officer promised her that a member of SERAP\u2019s management staff or an assigned staff would visit the office of the DSS, hopefully, that day, 9\/9\/2024.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the DSS official left SERAP\u2019s Abuja Office, the front desk officer called SERAP deputy director and narrated her ordeal with the officials who had left the office, but still entertained fears they might return to arrest all staff, including herself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the DSS officials signed their names in the SERAP visitor\u2019s book, their convoy remained stationed at our office. Consequently, SERAP released a tweet on X (formerly known as Twitter) urging President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to instruct the DSS to cease the harassment, intimidation, and unlawful occupation of its premises.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing the tweet referenced above, various media outlets began arriving to monitor the situation at SERAP\u2019s Abuja office. Upon noticing the presence of these media organizations, the DSS officials\u2019 convoy promptly moved their unmarked vehicles further from SERAP\u2019s premises and subsequently departed the area.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe actions of the DSS officials amount to harassment, intimidation, and ill-treatment and inflicted severe psychological torture and trauma on the staff members of SERAP to the extent that some staff in the employment of SERAP were reluctant to resume when directed to do so in fear of being arbitrarily arrested, harassed, intimidated and\/or detained by the DSS.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDSS officials never recorded the conversation between them and the SERAP front desk officer as claimed and put the officials to the strictest proof of the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP is a leading NGO in Nigeria advocating for the protection of human rights in Nigeria and it is loved by Nigerians for the organization\u2019s good work and specifically pleads that its public statement published on 9\/9\/2024 is true and justified.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe DSS officials cannot claim to have sustained any injury as a result of the Defendants\u2019 publication, as the said publication never mentioned their names but only described the officers who came to SERAP\u2019s office.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe descriptions of \u201ctall, large, dark-skinned woman and a \u201cslim, dark-skinned man\u201d apply to several other staff of the DSS and not only to the Claimants, and there is no way that members of the public could know the specific officers of DSS who carried out the invasion.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn any event, the DSS officials did not disclose their true names to the 1st Defendant and therefore the Defendants\u2019 publication was not, and could not have been, made in respect of the Claimants.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kolawole Oluwadare<\/p>\n
SERAP Deputy Director
\n7\/11\/2024
\nLagos, Nigeria<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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