In a N5.5 billion defamation lawsuit brought by two Department of State Services employees against the Incorporated Trustees of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja will render a decision on Tuesday.Due to claims that security personnel illegally entered SERAP’s Abuja office in September 2024, DSS agents Sarah John and Gabriel Ogundele filed the lawsuit against SERAP and its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare. On September 9, 2024, SERAP claimed that State Security Service personnel had illegally taken over its office and sought to see its directors in a series of posts posted on its X account. According to the organization, officers from Nigeria’s State Security Service are currently illegally invading SERAP’s Abuja headquarters and want to see our directors.
President Tinubu needs to give the SSS immediate instructions to stop harassing, intimidating, and attacking Nigerians’ rights.
However, the DSS refuted the accusation, stating that the two agents’ visit was normal and intended to acquaint themselves with the organization’s new leadership.
Allegations that the agents mistreated or harassed employees during the visit were also refuted by the secret police.
The two operatives filed the N5.5 billion lawsuit after the argument, alleging that SERAP’s publication misrepresented them as lawless policemen and harmed their reputation.
The claimants additionally claimed that they were humiliated and disciplined by the service as a result of the publishing.SERAP insisted that DSS agents had illegally entered its office in spite of the lawsuit. The organization said it stood by its defense and court filings in a statement signed by Oluwadare and released on November 26, 2025.We stand behind our defense statements and the statements made under oath in court by our attorneys, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, and Tayo Oyetibo, SAN, as well as the accurate reporting of what actually transpired in court on Monday, November 24, 2025, regarding the DSS’s illegal invasion of our Abuja office. Witnesses allegedly told the court during the hearings that there was no physical assault by the DSS agents during the visit. Additionally, Oluwadare told the court that SERAP’s front desk officer, Vivian Amadi, provided the information used in the report of the purported invasion.Oluwagbemileke Samuel Kehinde, the claimants’ attorney, pleaded with the court to grant all of his clients’ requests for relief during the adoption of final written addresses on February 19, 2026.
According to Kehinde, the claimants had proven that they were the individuals mentioned in the purportedly defamatory publication.
Additionally, he contended that as long as others in their social circle could recognize the claimants from the publication, it was not required for every member of the public to be aware of them before a defamation claim could be successful.
In the lawsuit designated CV/4547/2024, Justice Halilu Yusuf later postponed rendering a decision.
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