The Department of State Services (DSS) has clarified that the recent N100 million defamation judgment against the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) was not filed by the agency but by two of its operatives acting in their personal capacities.
In a statement on May 6, 2026, Deputy Director of Public Relations and Strategic Communications, Favour Dozie, said the suit arose after SERAP published an allegation on September 9, 2024, claiming that DSS officials had unlawfully invaded its Abuja office and harassed its staff.
The DSS said it immediately investigated the claims. After the investigation concluded, the two operatives sought and obtained approval from the Director-General to pursue legal redress in court in their personal capacity.
The court ruled in their favour and awarded N100 million in general damages. It also directed SERAP to publish apologies on its website, in Punch and Vanguard newspapers, and on Arise Television and Channels Television. The court further ordered that the N100 million would attract 10% annual interest from May 5, 2026, until fully paid.
The DSS stressed that while it has a duty to protect personnel who act lawfully, it also sanctions operatives found to have breached Nigerian law or internal regulations.
“We have demonstrated this time and again by prosecuting some of our staff for various offenses in competent courts,” the statement read.
“The Service expresses happiness over the remedy to the injustice SERAP did to its officers,” Dozie said, adding that the DSS remains committed to professionalism and the rule of law.
The agency said some recent publications had misrepresented the case as a suit between the DSS as an institution and SERAP, when it was in fact a personal legal action by the two officers.
