SERAP rejects reports claiming it denied DSS invasion of Abuja office

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has dismissed media reports suggesting that its deputy director told a federal capital territory (FCT) high court that the Department of State Services (DSS) did not invade the organisation’s Abuja office.

In a statement on Tuesday, SERAP said the reports misrepresented Monday’s court proceedings in the suit filed against the organisation by two DSS officials.

The group insisted it has never retracted its claim that DSS operatives stormed its Abuja office on September 9, 2024, shortly after it demanded an investigation into alleged corruption at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and criticised the increase in petrol prices.

SERAP said reports that its deputy director “admitted there was no invasion” were “entirely incorrect” and contradicted its sworn statements and defence before the court.

“We stand by our statements of defence and statements on oath filed in court by our lawyers Tayo Oyetibo, SAN, and Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, and the correct reporting of what actually happened in court on Monday 24 November 2025 that the DSS unlawfully invaded our Abuja office,” the statement reads.

The organisation described the suit against it as a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) aimed at silencing civil society.

SERAP said it has denied the claims by the two DSS officials and will urge the court to dismiss the suit for being “frivolous and vexatious”.

The group also accused the DSS of giving conflicting explanations for the September 2024 visit, noting that the agency publicly described the action as a “routine investigation” but told the court it was a “familiarisation visit” to SERAP’s so-called new leadership.

SERAP maintained that the officers who visited its office interrogated staff, demanded registration documents and concealed their identities, actions the organisation described as intimidation.

“The actions of the DSS officials amount to harassment, intimidation, and ill-treatment and inflicted severe psychological torture and trauma on the staff members of SERAP to the extent that some staff in the employment of SERAP were reluctant to resume when directed to do so in fear of being arbitrarily arrested, harassed, intimidated and/or detained by the DSS,” the statement reads.

“The DSS officials cannot claim to have sustained any injury as a result of the Defendants’ publication, as the said publication never mentioned their names but only described the officers who came to SERAP’s office.”

Justice Yusuf Halilu adjourned the suit — FCT/HC/CV/4547/24, filed by DSS officials Sarah John and Gabriel Ogundele to February 19, 2026 for adoption of final written addresses.