The Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Oluwatosin Ajayi, has directed personnel of the agency to stop arresting individuals over civil disputes.
Ajayi gave the directive during a media interview on Thursday, describing it as part of ongoing reforms aimed at strengthening the rule of law and promoting respect for human rights within the service.
The DSS boss said that since assuming office, he had introduced reforms in five major areas: law enforcement, inter-agency collaboration, accountability, human rights, and infrastructural and administrative development.
According to him, the reforms have helped the agency draw a clearer line between civil disputes and criminal matters.
Ajayi acknowledged that civil and criminal cases had sometimes been treated alike in the past, but stressed that the use of force was inappropriate in resolving civil disputes.
“You cannot apply the use of force in civil matters. Even some criminal matters don’t require force,” he said.
He cited the case involving political economist, Prof. Pat Utomi, who was questioned over allegations linked to an attempt to establish what was described as a “shadow government.”
Ajayi said the DSS opted not to arrest Utomi but instead approached the court for an interpretation of the matter.
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“Rather than arrest him, we sought judicial interpretation. And the court ruled that his adventure was unconstitutional, illegal, and a threat to national security,” he said.
The DSS director-general also referred to a legal dispute involving the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), which had accused two DSS operatives of invading its premises.
He said the agency allowed the matter to proceed through the courts without making any arrests, adding that the court later awarded more than N100 million in favour of SERAP.
Asked whether the DSS now relies on the courts to settle civil disputes, Ajayi answered in the affirmative.
“Yes. I have told my people that there should be no arrest in any civil case,” he said.
He said the agency had adopted the same approach in its dealings with journalists, whom he described as “professional colleagues” of DSS personnel.
“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,” Ajayi said.
The directive is expected to further guide the DSS in handling disputes that do not involve criminal conduct or threats to national security, while reinforcing its stated commitment to due process, accountability and human rights.
