The Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Oluwatosin Ajayi, has directed operatives of the agency not to arrest individuals over civil matters.
Ajayi disclosed this during a recent media parley, according to The Sun, saying the directive was part of efforts to strengthen respect for the rule of law and improve the DSS’s human rights record.
The DSS boss said the agency under his leadership had made a clear distinction between civil and criminal matters, noting that his career experience showed that the two had previously been conflated.
Ajayi stressed that the use of force was inappropriate in civil cases and said even some criminal matters did not necessarily require arrests or the use of force.
He cited the case involving Professor Pat Utomi and the alleged attempt to establish a shadow government as an example, explaining that the DSS opted to seek judicial interpretation rather than arrest him.
“You cannot apply the use of force in civil matters. Even some criminal matters don’t require force.
Take, for example, the attempt to establish a shadow government, i.e., the Service versus Pat Utomi. Rather than arrest him, we sought judicial interpretation. And the Court ruled that his adventure was unconstitutional, illegal, and a threat to national security.
So it was with SERAP, which wrongly accused two (2) DSS operatives of invading their premises. They approached the court, on my approval. Throughout the process, nobody was arrested, and the court awarded over N100 million in their favour.
The case with the owner of Sahara Reporters, Sowore, is the same. Even from day one, when he went to court, the court asked whether we objected to his bail, and we said no because we hadn’t arrested him in the first place.”
Asked whether the DSS now resorts to the courts in civil matters, Ajayi responded in the affirmative.
“Yes. I have told my people that there should be no arrest in any civil case. And I’m sure you have found out that, even in cases involving journalists, we would rather approach the court because we do the same job.
I call you guys our professional colleagues. The only difference is that, while you inform the public, we inform the Government. And because we inform the Government, our information is classified until we declassify it.”
