The Department of State Services has justified its raid of the office of the ocio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project in the early hours of Monday.
A statement published on the DSS website noted that the operatives were conducting a routine investigation at the office, contrary to other information spreading in the media. The statement explained that the operatives were not in the office to harass or intimidate the SERAP workers and officials.
It was disclosed that the secret police had received enquiries about its activities in the accountability rights group’s Abuja and Lagos offices; the statement noted that it was termed an unlawful invasion.
The statement noted that the narratives of the office operation were misrepresented. The DSS explained that the office had deployed two unarmed Service operatives to the said office for routine investigation. The DSS noted that the office was surprised when a narrative of unlawful harassment and intimidation was being spread.
The statement further noted that such activities were traditional and did not translate to any form of illegality or raid as represented in the media space.
The Secret Service urged citizens always to make themselves available for all forms of tradition and not in any way amount to illegality or raid. The statement further noted that the office would conduct an intensive investigation into the malicious content being spread in the media.
The public was also urged to disregard the false narratives, as the police noted their commitment to utmost professionalism in the discharge of their core mandate.
On Monday, it was learned that the operatives of the DSS had invaded the office of SERAP in Abuja, the nation’s capital; the invasion was after the arrest of the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress. After the invasion, the accountability rights group called President Bola Tinubu to call for an end to the intimidation, harassment and attack against the organization.
In a statement from SERAP, Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization condemned the invasion of the Abuja office; the organization and called the organization to end all forms of intimidation from the government on its staff and offices.
They continued by noting that the invasion of the office was a total abuse of the entire human rights community in the country, explaining that the invasion of the office was highly condemnable.
They also noted that escalating crackdown on human rights, and harassment and intimidation of NGOs and human rights defenders that have shown astonishing courage in their human rights work hurt those most in need, undermine access of Nigerian victims of human rights violations and abuses to justice, and contribute to a culture of impunity of perpetrators.
The statement further noted that the government should support and protect civil society groups and human rights defenders. It expressed concerns over recent activities, including the growing restrictions on civic space and the brutal crackdown on Nigerians’ human rights.
The statement further called on the President, Tinubu to urgently instruct appropriate authorities to promptly and thoroughly investigate the invasion of our offices and to bring to justice those involved
The statement concluded by noting that the nigerian authorities must allow SERAP to freely carry out our mandates as recognized under the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to which Nigeria is a state party.
