By Our Correspondent
The Department of State Services (DSS) is set to sue some media houses for running stories on September 9 that its operatives “raided” the Abuja office of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).
The move followed SERAP’s refusal to accept responsibility for the story that DSS operatives stormed its Abuja office.
DSS demanded SERAP to retract what it called a “false statement within seven clear days through the same media channels it used to injure DSS and at least two national dailies.”
The secret police, in a letter to SERAP, noted that its new leadership was repositioning the agency to utmost professionalism, and promised to use all lawful means to punish what it said was “the unprofessional reportage of our activities.”
Responding, SERAP denied putting out the narrative, and advised the DSS to channel its demand for a retraction of the story and apology from the media houses that published the story.
SERAP said it wouldn’t take responsibility for the editorial slants given their press statement by the media houses.
“The descriptions ascribed to the incident by other media houses cannot be attributed to SERAP,” the NGO stated in a September 23, 2024 letter by its counsel, Tayo Otetibo, SAN.
SERAP was responding to an earlier letter by counsel to the DSS, Dr. Alex Iziyon, SAN.
In Iziyon’s letter dated September 17, 2024, the secret police frowned at a September 9 statement by SERAP which created the impression that some DSS operatives raided its Abuja office.
DSS, in the letter by Iziyon, accused SERAP of distorting the facts of the visit to create what he said was a false narrative that its officers raided the NGO’s Abuja office. DSS demanded a retraction and public apology from the NGO.
However, responding, SERAP stated that, having earlier criticised the Bola Tinubu administration for increasing the pump price of petrol, it was reasonable to suspect that the visit by the DSS operatives was to raid their office.
“It would seem that the response from government was for the State Security Service, otherwise known as Department of State Services, to visit the Abuja offices of SERAP…while a tall, large dark-skinned woman entered the office accompanied by a, slim, dark-skinned man,” noted SERAP.
On September 9, 2024, some newspapers and television stations broke the story that DSS officers raided SERAP’s Abuja office.
The Nigerian Pilot gathered that the matter has attracted the attention of some NGOs, who are of the opinion that the Freedom of Information Act and the constitutional provision of Freedom of Speech should help access to factual information.
Noted the coordinator of an NGO who didn’t want to be named, “Some of us are uncomfortable with how the media handled the DSS encounter with our sister NGO which seemed to mislead unsuspecting media houses into believing lies packaged as truth
“However, it is good the DSS are resorting to civility, and asking for retraction and apology. It shows that the DSS is turning a new leaf and respecting the rule of law,” he declared.