By Stephen Simon
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has appealed the judgment of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, which awarded N100 million damages in favour of officials of the Department of State Services (DSS) in a defamation suit.
The appeal, filed on May 8, 2026, by senior lawyer Tayo Oyetibo on behalf of SERAP, also seeks a stay of execution of the judgment pending the determination of the appeal.
SERAP described the May 5 judgment delivered by Yusuf Halilu as “a travesty and miscarriage of justice,” insisting that the decision was legally and procedurally flawed.
Justice Halilu had ordered SERAP to pay N100 million damages to the DSS officials for alleged defamation, publish public apologies, pay N1 million litigation costs, and a 10 percent annual post-judgment interest until the judgment sum is fully paid.
In its Notice of Appeal, SERAP argued that the lower court relied on defective evidence, including a witness statement allegedly not sworn before a Commissioner for Oaths, adding that the court’s reliance on the document substantially affected the outcome of the case.
The organisation also contended that the suit was fundamentally defective because it was initially filed against “Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project,” which it described as a non-juristic entity, before being amended to substitute its incorporated trustees.
SERAP further argued that the trial court wrongly held that the allegedly defamatory publications referred personally to the DSS officials, despite the absence of names, photographs, ranks, or unique identifiers linking the publications to them.
According to the group, the court failed to properly consider its defences of justification, qualified privilege and fair comment, maintaining that the publications were substantially true and made in the public interest regarding the conduct of DSS operatives during an unannounced visit to its office.
