“The Defence Of Justification Fails” — SERAP Challenges ₦101m Defamation Judgment, Court Of Appeal Fixes Friday Hearing

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has scheduled Friday for the hearing of an appeal filed by the Incorporated Trustees of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, challenging a judgment awarding ₦101 million in damages and costs against the organisation and its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare.

The appellate court’s Registry communicated the hearing date to the parties in a notice issued on Wednesday in the appeal marked CA/ABJ/CV/1114/2026.

The appeal challenges the May 5 judgment of Justice Halilu Yusuf of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in a defamation suit brought by two State Security Service officials, Sarah John and Gabriel Ogundele.

In the suit, marked CV/4547/2024, the officials complained about publications on SERAP’s website and social media platforms alleging that they invaded the organisation’s Abuja office on September 9, 2024, and subjected its personnel to harassment.

The disputed publication was made on September 10, 2024.

Delivering judgment, Justice Yusuf held that the claimants presented sufficient evidence to establish the ingredients of defamation. He rejected the defence of justification raised by SERAP and Oluwadare, holding that they failed to substantiate the allegations contained in the publications.

The judge found that descriptions such as “invasion,” “forceful entry” and “harassment” were inaccurate, noting that the defendants admitted during the trial that the officials neither forcibly entered SERAP’s premises nor brandished weapons.

“Having been unable to establish invasion and harassment, the defence of justification fails. There is no doubt that the publication affected the claimants mentally and psychologically,” Justice Yusuf said.

He held that the publications damaged the officials’ reputations in their professional capacities and their standing in society.

The court also dismissed the defendants’ objection to the competence of the suit, finding that the claimants had the requisite legal standing to institute it and that the court possessed jurisdiction to determine the dispute.

On the defendants’ contention that the officials were not named in the publications, Justice Yusuf held that expressly naming the claimants was not a prerequisite for establishing defamation in the circumstances of the case.

He further noted that the defendants did not remove the disputed publications after the claimants complained about their accuracy.

The judge awarded ₦100 million in damages and ₦1 million as the cost of prosecuting the suit. He also ordered SERAP and Oluwadare to publish a public apology on the organisation’s website and X account, in two national daily newspapers and on two television stations.

The judgment sum, the court directed, would attract interest at 10 per cent annually from the date of judgment until payment.

Justice Yusuf urged SERAP and its officials to exercise care and due diligence before disseminating information, stressing that their right to publish must be exercised with regard for the rights and reputations of others.

The scheduled appellate hearing will concern SERAP’s challenge to those findings and orders.

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