DSS, Department of State Services, has explained why its officers visited the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project’s (SERAP) Abuja office on Monday.
In a statement on its website on Tuesday, the DSS claimed that the agents were detailed for routine investigation, contrary to reports that its officers raided SERAP’s office.
The DSS lamented that the officers’ actions had been misinterpreted as harassment and intimidation, saying that the Department of State Services has been inundated with multiple enquiries on its alleged unlawful invasion of SERAP offices in Abuja and Lagos.
According to the statemen, “This narrative is inaccurate and misleading in its intent. For the records, a team of two unarmed Service operatives were lawfully detailed on a routine investigation to the SERAP office in Abuja, which has sadly been skewed and misinterpreted as unlawful, harassment, and intimidation of SERAP officials.”
The Service further stated that such official enquiries and liaison are traditional and do not in any way amount to illegality or raid.
It sues for citizens’ participation in national security management, while assuring of in-depth investigation of the malicious contents.
The DSS, therefore, urged the public to disregard the false narratives as it restated its commitment to utmost professionalism in the discharge of its core mandate.