The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) said on Friday that it is ready to meet the Department of State Service (DSS) in court.
The secret police filed a suit at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) claiming N5.5 billion from SERAP as damages for allegedly making false claims that officials of the agency invaded its Abuja office.
SERAP and its deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, are the co-defendants in the suit.
Oluwadare confirmed to The ICIR that the organisation had received the court papers.
He described the accusation against SERAP as “baseless” and promised to challenge it in court.
Oluwadare said the organisation’s lawyers will file counterclaims against the DSS.
“We’ll see in court to stop this harassment, intimidation, and attack on the rights of Nigerians,” Oludare said.
The suit was filed by the DSS on October 17, 2024, in the names of two of its officials, Sarah John and Gabriel Ogundele.
The DSS said in the suit that the alleged false claim by SERAP negatively affected its reputation and those of the officials involved.
According to the DSS statement of claim, it sent two officials to visit the SERAP office on September 9 to invite its new leadership to a familiarisation meeting as part of its policy to build rapport with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the FCT.
The claimants stated the officials met a lady called Ruth at the SERAP office who offered a phone number and pledged to notify her organisation’s management about the visit. They also claimed that their conversations with Ruth were recorded.
They said it was surprising that SERAP claimed that DSS officers had occupied its office illegally in a post on its X (Twitter) profile, @SERAPNigeria, shortly after the visit.
“On the same day, the defendants also published a statement on SERAP’s website, which was widely reported by several media outfits, falsely alleging that some officers from the DSS, described as a tall, large, dark-skinned woman and a slim, dark-skinned man, invaded their Abuja office and interrogated the staff of the first defendant,” the suit read.
The DSS stated that due to the statements published by the defendants, it was ridiculed and criticised by international agencies such as Amnesty International and prominent Nigerians, such as Femi Falana, a senior advocate.
The claimants further stated that the defendant’s remarks damaged their reputation because they had been subjected to mockery and contempt as a result of SERAP’s claim.
The claimants are asking the court for an order directing the defendants to tender an apology to the claimants via the first defendant’s (SERAP’s) website X (Twitter) handle, two national daily newspapers (Punch and Vanguard), and two national news television stations (Arise Television and Channels Television).
They are also asking for “Interest on the sum of N5 billion at the rate of 10 per cent per annum from the date of judgment until the judgment sum is realised or liquidated and “an order directing the defendants to pay the claimants the sum of N50 million as costs of this action.”
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