he Department of State Services (DSS) personnel have surrounded the office of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) in Abuja.
This comes only hours after DSS agents detained Joe Ajaero, the head of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
The specifics of the operation at SERAP’s headquarters are yet unknown, but according to a tweet on its official X (previously Twitter) page, the prominent non-governmental organization (NGO) reported that security personnel asked to meet its directors.
“Officers from Nigeria’s State Security Service (SSS) are presently unlawfully occupying SERAP’s office in Abuja, asking to see our directors. “President Tinubu must immediately direct the SSS to end the harassment, intimidation, and attack on the rights of Nigerians,” the post read.
However, the group said that DSS personnel repeatedly asked for its directors, implying that they had come to arrest them.
SERAP, a leading human rights organization, has been outspoken in its criticism of the Nigerian government’s human rights record, filing multiple cases on behalf of victims of human rights violations.
The president was recently asked to leverage his authority and instruct the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to reverse the recent increase in the pump price of premium motor spirit (PMS), best referred to as petrol. In the open letter released on 7 September 2024 and signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the national body said, “The increase in petrol price constitutes a fundamental breach of constitutional guarantees and the country’s international human rights obligations.”
