The Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Oluwatosin Ajayi, has ordered operatives of the agency to stop arresting Nigerians over civil disputes.
Ajayi disclosed this in an interview on Thursday, saying the directive was part of reforms introduced under his leadership to strengthen respect for the rule of law and improve the agency’s human rights record.
The DSS boss said his administration had focused its reforms on five key areas: law enforcement, inter-agency collaboration, accountability, human rights and infrastructural and administrative development.
According to him, the reforms have also helped the agency draw a clearer line between civil disputes and criminal offences.
Ajayi acknowledged that the DSS had in the past sometimes conflated civil and criminal matters, insisting that the use of force was unacceptable in civil disputes.
“You cannot apply the use of force in civil matters. Even some criminal matters don’t require force,” he said.
The DSS director-general cited the case involving political economist, Prof. Pat Utomi, over allegations surrounding an attempt to establish a “shadow government” as an example of the agency’s new approach.
Rather than arrest Utomi, Ajayi said the DSS approached the court for judicial interpretation of the matter.
He said the court subsequently ruled that the alleged initiative was unconstitutional, illegal and a threat to national security.
Ajayi also referenced a legal dispute involving the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), saying the agency allowed the matter to proceed through the courts rather than arresting those involved.
He said the court eventually awarded more than N100m in favour of SERAP.
Asked whether the DSS had now adopted litigation instead of arrests in civil matters, Ajayi said the directive was clear.
“Yes. I have told my people that there should be no arrest in any civil case,” he said.
The DSS chief further said the agency had adopted a similar approach in dealing with journalists, stressing that it would rather seek judicial intervention where necessary.
“I call you guys our professional colleagues. The only difference is that, while you inform the public, we inform the Government,” Ajayi said.
He explained that information gathered by the DSS remained classified until the agency decided to declassify it.
The directive represents a significant emphasis by the intelligence agency on distinguishing civil disputes from criminal matters and resolving such cases through established legal processes.
