DSS: SERAP condemns Abuja court’s ₦100m judgment in defamation case

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has expressed strong disappointment over the Tuesday ruling of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja, which held that the organisation defamed two operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) and awarded ₦100 million in damages against it.

Justice Yusuf Halilu, in the judgment, ruled that SERAP’s publication falsely portrayed DSS operatives as acting unlawfully and harassing the group’s staff. The judge noted that SERAP failed to challenge the evidence presented by the claimants adequately.

Reacting to the judgment, SERAP Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, speaking as a guest on News Central on Thursday, said, “I’ve been in court several times where I’ve seen even undefended defamation cases that get thrown out because it’s straightforward. You have to prove that the statement was made, you have to prove that it referred to the claimant, you have to prove that it was false, you have to prove that it was published to a third party, and you have to prove damages — how you lowered their reputation in the eyes of right-thinking members of society.

“In this instance, an important aspect is that what happened was an invasion. They came to our office — that was true, still is true. Did we mention the name of the operatives? No. What we said was that DSS officials, whose names we didn’t know, had come to our office. There was no way it could be said that it referred to the claimants. It wasn’t until the claimants filed the lawsuit that we knew their names. How could that even refer to the claimants? And how could that affect their reputation when we did not mention their names?

“Don’t forget, the suit was filed by two operatives, not by DSS as an institution. We didn’t know their names until they filed the suit. In fact, when they came, the lady who put down her name wrote a wrong name, not the name she now used to sue as the first claimant.

“Our lawyers are looking into this, and very soon they’re working on the appeal process, and we’re going to file that pretty soon.

“But much more importantly, what does this mean for the civic space, freedom of expression, and the ability of Nigerians to engage, to speak, and to be critical of government? Because being critical of government is not political. It doesn’t make you opposition. It’s part of democracy.

“We’ve seen what the DSS has done against Pat Utomi. We’ve seen what they’re doing against Sowore as we speak. And we see this as a consistent pattern. So it’s not that we term it a SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) — it is what it is.

“We’ve seen that with this administration, there is this consistent pattern of trying to use the legal process — seemingly lawful process — to do unlawful and illegitimate things. In this instance, it is soft power. It is using the legal process to bring about self-censorship.

“One of my colleagues who was interrogated at the front desk was traumatised for a while because she was afraid. Even coming to your office, interrogating and asking questions without following the lawful process is enough to make you afraid.

“Why couldn’t the DSS, if they really wanted to speak with us, have done that through formal channels — write a letter or send an invitation? Why come in that manner?”

The Department of State Services (DSS) has clarified that the recent defamation judgment involving SERAP was instituted by two of its operatives in their personal capacities and not by the agency itself.

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