ABUJA: A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory on Friday began hearing the case of defamation instituted by two operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) against the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).
The officers instituted the case last September following SERAP’s refusal to apologise to the DSS after accusing operatives of the secret police of invading its Abuja office.
Miffed by the action of the civil society organisation, the DSS officers, Sarah John and Gabriel Ogundele, filed the defamation lawsuit in October 2024, seeking ₦5 billion in damages from SERAP.
In addition to the remedy sought by the officers for what they called reputational harm, the two officers also demanded that SERAP should publish an apology on its website, national dailies and television stations.
The duo also demanded the payment of N50 million for legal costs and 10 per cent annual interest on the N5 billion until payment is completed.
At the resumed hearing, the court advised the defence (SERAP) to go through all the six documents tendered by the plaintiffs.
The judge stressed that all objections would be part of the final written address.
The hearing kicked off with the cross-examination of the first claimant, John, referred to as PW1 (plaintiff witness 1) by the counsel to the first and second defendants.
SERAP was represented in court by Divine Oguru, while its deputy director was represented by Oluwatosin Adesoye, who apologised for the absence of his client.
Akinolu Kehinde, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who represented the plaintiffs, said he was fully prepared for the hearing.
The defence counsel cross-examined the DSS operative John on events surrounding the alleged invasion of SERAP’s office last year.
Both counsels pushed the argument that the claimants’ names were not mentioned by SERAP hence not justified in the claims before the court.
But John stated that SERAP’s allegations negatively impacted her reputation, that of her colleague, as well as all personnel of the DSS.
After a session that lasted about an hour, the judge adjourned to May 8, 2025, for continuation.
