The Department of State Services said it has been maligned by African Independent Television and Channels TV reports of its occupation of the Lagos State House of Assembly on Monday.
DSS agents caused a furore early Monday morning, by sealing off the LAHA building, but according to the organisation it was there on the invitation of the clerk of assembly to maintain law and order.
The DSS said reports aired by the broadcast organisation that it invaded the House ‘false and malicious.’ In a statement made available Tuesday lawyer to the DSS Ayodeji Adedipe, SAN, said the organisations have seven days to retract the reports and make public apology or they would be facing charges under the Cybercrimes Act of 2015 as amended in 2024.
“Without any verification of the reason for the presence of our client’s officials at the Lagos State House of Assembly on the 17th of February, 2025, your organization maliciously and falsely broadcast, both on your news bulletin and print media, that our client had invaded/stormed the Lagos State House of Assembly with a view to preventing the members and speaker from entering the chamber for plenary,” said parts of the statement.
“By this publication, our client which is a highly responsible and respected organization, was portrayed as an irresponsible and reckless organization, who in a Gestapo manner invaded/stormed the Lagos State House of Assembly, to support one of the feuding parties and to desecrate the hallowed chambers.
“Your publication and/or broadcast has greatly injured the character of our client and tarnished and lowered its esteemed image in the eyes of the public.
“Having regard to the fact that your broadcast was false and coupled with the fact that you did not ensure balancing in your report, as enjoined by the ethics of journalism, our client has instructed us to demand the following:
“An immediate retraction of your defamatory publication and/or broadcast on all your news platforms.
“The retraction shall be accompanied by an apology which must be published for at least five (5) times daily for three consecutive days on all your new channels and platforms, including all the social media handles to which your media house has its presence.
“Please note that, should you fail, ‘to comply with the above demands within a period of seven (7) days after the delivery of this letter to you, we shall, on behalf of our client, seek redress by pursuing both civil and criminal actions against your organization as your conduct also runs contrary to the provisions of the Nigeria’s Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act of 2015, as amended in 2024, without further reference to you.”
