ABUJA, Nigeria – The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, presented new allegations in court on Thursday, November 7, 2024, claiming that the Department of State Services, DSS, used deceptive tactics and unmarked vehicles during a September visit to SERAP’s Abuja office.
The testimony, delivered before the Federal Capital Territory High Court, alleges that DSS agents employed fake identities and conducted an intimidating inspection following SERAP’s call to investigate alleged corruption within the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL.
SERAP’s legal representatives, Tayo Oyetibo, SAN and Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, argued that one DSS official falsely identified herself as “Sarah David” in the visitor’s book, concealing her real identity.
They stated, “One DSS official who came to SERAP’s Abuja office disguised as ‘Sarah David’ to conceal their real identities, in furtherance of the agency’s bad faith and sinister motives.”
The DSS initially justified the visit as a “routine investigation,” but later, two DSS officials filed a N5 billion defamation lawsuit against SERAP.
The human rights group responded by challenging the DSS’s legal claim, calling it “frivolous and vexatious.”
In an emailed statement to The Trent on Thursday, November 7, 2024, SERAP expressed its intention to seek costs, stating, “SERAP 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.”
The testimony included specific claims about the DSS’s conduct, asserting that “one of the two DSS officials who entered SERAP’s office signed the visitor’s book as ‘Sarah David’ and not ‘Sarah John’ as constituted in this suit.”
SERAP further argued that DSS behaviour during the visit was aggressive, adding, “The DSS stormed SERAP’s office demanding to see its management staff, demanding official documents in addition to interrogating and questioning its front desk officer.”
The non-governmental organisation (NGO) criticised the DSS’s justification for the visit, arguing that the agency rarely contacts NGOs for non-investigative purposes.
“The 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,” SERAP stated.
SERAP claimed that upon entering its premises, a DSS official asked for incorporation documents and questioned the whereabouts of senior officers.
“One of the two DSS officials specifically asked and queried the internal structure of SERAP while asking for the whereabouts of SERAP’s director,” the group’s statement read.
SERAP staff reportedly felt intimidated and “visibly scared” during the prolonged questioning, which reportedly included phone calls from DSS operatives stationed outside the office.
After the DSS officials left, SERAP posted a message on X (formerly Twitter), urging President Bola Tinubu to order the DSS to “cease the harassment, intimidation, and unlawful occupation of its premises.”
This prompted media outlets to arrive at the scene, which SERAP claims led the DSS agents to move their vehicles away from the premises before finally departing.
SERAP also dismissed claims made by the DSS that conversations with SERAP’s front desk officer were recorded, stating, “DSS 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.”
Throughout the hearing, SERAP reiterated its role as a “leading NGO in Nigeria advocating for the protection of human rights” and emphasised that the published statement did not identify specific DSS officials.
SERAP’s lawyers argued that the descriptions of the DSS agents were generic, noting, “The descriptions of ‘tall, large, dark-skinned woman’ and a ‘slim, dark-skinned man’ apply to several other staff of the DSS.”
As the case progresses, adjourned further hearings to November 29, 2024, where SERAP plans to continue contesting the DSS’s lawsuit.
