By Charles Chijioke
The leadership of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights has distanced itself from an earlier statement criticising Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project over a recent court judgment involving operatives of the Department of State Services, insisting that the rights group retains the constitutional right to challenge the ruling on appeal.
The controversy followed a judgment by an FCT High Court ordering SERAP to pay N100 million in damages and N1 million as legal costs to two DSS operatives, Sarah John and Gabriel Ogundele, over what the court described as defamatory claims.
In the aftermath of the ruling, a faction within CDHR alongside the Centre Against Injustice and Domestic Violence had issued a statement backing the judgment and faulting SERAP for publicly criticising the court’s decision.
The statement, signed by Debo Adeniran and Jeremiah Onyibe, argued that every organisation “must respect the decisions of competent courts” and urged SERAP to comply with the judgment while pursuing an appeal.
However, the position sparked backlash from rights advocates, including lawyer and media rights activist Richard Akinnola, who reportedly described the demand for immediate compliance as “highly suspicious.”
In a fresh statement issued Friday, CDHR national president Yinka Folarin declared that the earlier publication did not emanate from the recognised leadership of the organisation.
“The CDHR did not authorize the said statement in any form whatsoever,” Folarin said.
“We hereby alert the general public to be wary of the activities and representations of Debo Adeniran and Onyibe Jeremiah, whom we regard as impostors acting outside the recognized structure, mandate, and constitutional authority of the CDHR.”
The organisation further argued that it was against its longstanding principles to publicly attack allied civil society organisations over a judgment delivered by what it described as a court of first instance.
“It is therefore disturbing that individuals who lack the moral and constitutional authority to speak on behalf of the CDHR would attempt to weaponize the name and reputation of this noble organization against a fellow human rights body merely because of a judgment delivered by a court of first instance,” the statement added.
Backing SERAP’s legal move, the group stressed that the organisation was fully entitled to seek redress at the appellate court.
“SERAP, like every citizen and organization operating within the framework of the law, reserves the inalienable right to challenge any judgment it considers flawed before a superior court of competent jurisdiction,” the statement read.
The faction also aligned itself with the position earlier taken by senior lawyer Femi Falana, chairman of CDHR’s board of trustees, who had defended SERAP’s right to appeal the ruling.
The latest development exposes growing divisions within the human rights community over the controversial judgment and could deepen scrutiny over internal leadership disputes within CDHR. It may also intensify public debate about freedom of expression, accountability activism and the limits of criticism of security agencies in Nigeria.
Source: TheCable�
