Nigeria’s clandestine operatives, the Department of State Services (DSS), have brandished a legal gauntlet at two prominent television networks over their portrayal of the Lagos State Assembly hullabaloo.
The DSS contends that Africa Independent Television (AIT) and Channels Television broadcasted spurious and injurious narratives about its participation in the February 17 Assembly escapade.
Through its legal eagle, Adedeji Adedipe, the DSS maintains it was merely the sidekick to other security cohorts, engaging in nothing untoward. The agency demands both stations retract their tales and issue groveling apologies on air for a triad of days.
Should they dawdle beyond a week, the DSS threatens to unleash the hounds of litigation under Nigeria’s cybercrime statutes.
In a missive dated February 17, the DSS’s solicitor lamented, “Your broadcast has grievously besmirched our client’s repute, dragging its esteemed standing through the mud before the populace.” The agency asserts the stations flouted journalistic decorum by not soliciting its side of the saga.
The DSS insists the contrite proclamations be aired quintuple times daily across all channels, including the digital agora, for three consecutive days.
Noncompliance within the seven-day ultimatum will compel the DSS to pursue both civil and criminal redress under the freshly minted Cybercrimes Act.
This article was updated 2 days ago
