DSS Clarifies N100m Defamation Judgment Against SERAP

The Department of State Services has clarified that the recent N100 million defamation judgment involving the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project was not a lawsuit instituted by the agency itself, but by two of its operatives acting in their personal capacities.

In a statement issued on May 6, 2026, by Deputy Director of Public Relations and Strategic Communications, Favour Dozie, the DSS said the operatives filed the suit after alleging that SERAP defamed them in a September 9, 2024 publication which claimed that DSS officials unlawfully invaded the organisation’s Abuja office and harassed its staff.

According to the statement, the Service immediately launched an internal investigation into the allegations made by SERAP.

Following the outcome of the probe, the affected operatives sought permission from the Director-General of the DSS to seek legal redress in court.

The DSS stated that the court ruled in favour of the operatives, awarding them N100 million in general damages. The court also directed SERAP to publish apologies on its website, in Punch and Vanguard newspapers, as well as on Arise Television and Channels Television.

The judgment further ordered that the N100 million award would attract a 10 per cent annual interest rate from May 5, 2026, until full payment is made.

The Service stressed that it has a responsibility to protect personnel who carry out their duties lawfully, while also sanctioning any operative found to have violated Nigerian laws or internal regulations.

“As such, the Service expresses happiness over the remedy to the injustice SERAP did to its officers,” the statement read.

The DSS also reaffirmed its commitment to professionalism and adherence to the rule of law.