The State Security Service (SSS) has taken a former chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Plateau State, Gabriel Tsenyen, to court over a WhatsApp post where he claimed that people from his community were planning to kill him.
Court documents shared by Chidi Odinkalu, a human rights activist and former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), show that Mr Tsenyen is facing four charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja under the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015, as amended.
The charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/317/2026 states that Mr Tsenyen used the Ngootuguit Local Community WhatsApp group on or around 15 May 2026 to say that the whole Ngootuguit community was involved in a plan to kill him.
The prosecution claims that Mr Tsenyen knew these accusations were false and made them to cause "annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, ill will and needless anxiety" within the community.
Four Charges
In the first charge, the SSS accuses Mr Tsenyen of working with others who are not in custody to spread the post, which goes against Section 27(1)(b) of the Cybercrimes Act and is punishable under Section 24(1) of the same law.
The second charge says he tried to send the post through WhatsApp, an action the prosecution claims violates Section 27(1)(a) of the Act and is also punishable under Section 24(1).
The third and fourth charges claim he sent the false post through the platform, which breaks Section 24(1) of the Cybercrimes Act.
According to a summary of the case, Mr Tsenyen is being tried for sending a message in the community WhatsApp group, alleging that the whole Ngootuguit community was planning to kill him.
The prosecution team includes M. E. Ernest, O. M. Owan, U. M. Bulla, C. S. Eze, and E. G. Orubor, all lawyers from the SSS.
Witness
The SSS has named its investigating officer as a witness and mentioned that they might call more witnesses during the trial if needed.
Odinkalu's Reaction
In response to this situation, Mr Odinkalu questioned why Mr Tsenyen was being prosecuted under the Cybercrimes Act.
On his verified X account on 24 June, Mr Odinkalu called the charges controversial. "Charging him under cybercrime laws is difficult to take seriously," he said.
While he noted that Mr Tsenyen might have made a mistake in how he expressed his worries, Mr Odinkalu stated that the charges raise bigger questions about how cybercrime laws are used and the freedom of speech.
As of now, neither the SSS nor Mr Tsenyen has released any further comments about the case.
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