The Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Oluwatosin Ajayi, has directed operatives of the agency to stop arresting individuals over civil matters.

Ajayi disclosed this in a media interview on Thursday, saying the directive was part of ongoing reforms aimed at strengthening the DSS’s adherence to the rule of law and improving its human rights record.

The DSS boss said that since assuming office, he had introduced reforms across five key areas: law enforcement, inter-agency collaboration, accountability, respect for human rights, and infrastructural and administrative development.

According to him, the reforms had also helped the agency establish a clearer distinction between civil disputes and criminal matters.

Ajayi acknowledged that the DSS had, in the past, sometimes conflated civil and criminal issues, stressing that the use of force was inappropriate in 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, over allegations surrounding an attempt to establish a “shadow government”, saying the DSS chose to seek judicial interpretation rather than arrest him.

“Rather than arrest him, we sought judicial interpretation. And the court ruled that his adventure was unconstitutional, illegal, and a threat to national security,” Ajayi said.

The DSS Director-General also referred to a case involving the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), which had approached the court over allegations that two DSS operatives invaded its premises.

He said the agency pursued the matter through the courts without making any arrests, adding that the court eventually awarded more than N100 million in favour of SERAP.

Asked whether the DSS now intends to rely more on the courts in civil matters, Ajayi said the directive was clear.

“Yes. I have told my people that there should be no arrest in any civil case,” he said.

Ajayi added that the agency had also adopted a more cautious approach in cases involving journalists, preferring to seek judicial intervention where necessary.

“I’m sure you have found out that, even in cases involving journalists, we would rather approach the court because we do the same job,” he said.

Describing journalists as the DSS’s “professional colleagues”, Ajayi said the major difference between the two institutions was the nature of the information they handle.

“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,” he added.