The planned arraignment of former Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Shendam Branch, Gabriel Nkup Tsenyen, failed to hold on Wednesday after the State Security Services’ prosecution team stayed away from the Federal High Court in Abuja.
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Tsenyen was scheduled to appear before Court 4 of the Federal High Court to take his plea on a four-count charge arising from publications allegedly made on a community WhatsApp platform.
However, the proceedings could not go ahead because none of the lawyers listed by the SSS to prosecute the case appeared in court.
Consequently, no plea was taken from Tsenyen and the criminal proceedings could not formally commence as scheduled.
The development came a day after TheNigeriaLawyer reported that the former NBA branch chairman was expected to be arraigned over allegations bordering on conspiracy, attempted transmission of false information, cyberstalking and conduct allegedly capable of causing a breach of public peace.
The charge, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/317/2026, was filed by the SSS following WhatsApp posts linked to a dispute over land in Ngotugu’ut village, Shendam Local Government Area of Plateau State.
The prosecution alleged that Tsenyen conspired with unidentified persons to circulate a publication on the Ngootuguut community WhatsApp platform claiming that members of the community were plotting to eliminate him.
According to the DSS, the publication was false and intended to cause annoyance, criminal intimidation, hatred, ill will and needless anxiety among members of the community.
The first count was brought under Sections 27(1)(b) and 24(1) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015, as amended.
In the second count, Tsenyen was accused of attempting to transmit the disputed publication through the WhatsApp platform, contrary to Sections 27(1)(a) and 24(1) of the Cybercrimes Act.
The third count alleged that he transmitted the publication through the community WhatsApp group in violation of Section 24(1) of the Act.
The fourth count accused him of making the publication with the intention of inciting or causing a breach of public peace, contrary to Section 114 of the Penal Code Act.
The charge was signed by DSS prosecutors M.E. Ernest, O.M. Owan, U.M. Bulla, C.S. Eze and E.G. Orubor.
The service listed its investigating officer as the principal prosecution witness and indicated that additional witnesses could be called during the trial.
The criminal case arose from Tsenyen’s complaints over what he described as the forceful takeover of his family’s ancestral land in Ngotugu’ut village.
Tsenyen had accused the President of the Court of Appeal of involvement in the disputed acquisition, an allegation that has not been determined by any court.
The ownership dispute is already the subject of a civil suit pending before the Plateau State High Court sitting in Shendam.
In the suit marked PLD/59/2025, Tsenyen is suing for himself and on behalf of the Tsenyen family of Ngotugu’ut village.
The defendants in the civil case are Tanko Danjuma, Dan-Azumi Danjuma, Miskoom Niemu’ut Mensem and the Incorporated Trustees of William Mensem Memorial Foundation School.
The civil action seeks a judicial determination of the ownership and control of the disputed family land.
Tsenyen also reportedly petitioned the National Judicial Council over his allegations concerning the President of the Court of Appeal.
The NJC was said to have declined to treat the complaint as judicial misconduct, maintaining that the controversy was essentially a civil dispute that should be determined by the courts.
Human rights lawyer and former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Professor Chidi Odinkalu, had criticised the prosecution, describing it as an alleged weaponisation of state institutions.
Odinkalu questioned why a dispute originating in Plateau State and already pending before a civil court had become the subject of a federal criminal prosecution in Abuja.
He also faulted the deployment of SSS resources to the matter amid continuing insecurity and killings in parts of Plateau State.
With the prosecution team absent from Wednesday’s proceedings, Tsenyen’s arraignment will have to await another date to be fixed by the court.
Tsenyen has not entered a plea, and the allegations against him remain unproven.
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