The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has appealed a N101 million defamation judgment entered against the organisation and its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, by the Federal Capital Territory High Court.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja is scheduled to hear the appeal on Friday, following a notice issued by the appellate court’s Registry to parties in the case, filed as CA/ABJ/CV/1114/2026.
SERAP’s appeal challenges a May 5 judgment by Justice Halilu Yusuf, who awarded N100 million in damages and N1 million in litigation costs against the organisation and Oluwadare.
The judgment followed a defamation suit filed by two officials of the Department of State Services, Sarah John and Gabriel Ogundele, over publications by SERAP concerning an alleged incident at the organisation’s Abuja office in September 2024.
The DSS officials argued that the publications contained false allegations about their conduct during the incident.
Justice Yusuf held that the claimants had established their case and rejected the defendants’ justification defence.
The court also found that the publications had damaged the professional reputation of the DSS officials, noting that SERAP and Oluwadare had acknowledged during the proceedings that the officials did not forcibly enter the organisation’s premises or display weapons.
In addition to the financial award, the court ordered SERAP and Oluwadare to publish a public apology on SERAP’s website and X account, as well as in selected national newspapers and television stations.
The judgment debt was also ordered to attract annual interest until full payment.
Dissatisfied with the ruling, SERAP approached the Court of Appeal seeking to have the judgment overturned.
Friday’s hearing will mark the next stage in the legal battle between the organisation and the two DSS officials.
