Secrets Reporters
There is an African proverb that says, “When the village watchman leaves the tower to chase a stray chicken, the gates are left wide open for the wolves.” Critics say this proverb aptly captures what appears to be the diversion of the State Security Service (SSS) from its core mandate of tackling terrorism, espionage, sabotage, and other threats to national security, to prosecuting a cybercrime case allegedly arising from a land dispute in Plateau State.
Information available to SecretsReporters indicates that the State Security Service (SSS) has filed cybercrime charges before the Federal High Court in Abuja against Nkup Gabriel Tsenyen, a former Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Shendam Branch.
According to court documents dated June 4, 2026, the SSS is prosecuting Tsenyen over a publication allegedly made on a WhatsApp platform belonging to members of the Ngotugu’ut community.
The prosecution alleges that Tsenyen circulated a message claiming that members of the community were involved in a plot to eliminate an unnamed individual.
The charge further alleges that Tsenyen knew the publication was false and transmitted it with the intent to cause “annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, ill will and needless anxiety,” contrary to the provisions of the Cybercrimes Act.
However, SecretsReporters gathered that the criminal prosecution followed an earlier civil suit instituted by Tsenyen over a disputed parcel of land in Plateau State.
Court records show that approximately one year before the SSS filed the cybercrime charges, Tsenyen commenced Suit No. PLD/S9CV/2025 before the High Court of Justice of Plateau State sitting in Shendam. He instituted the action for himself and on behalf of the Tsenyen family of Ngotugu’ut Village, Dorok District.
The defendants in the civil suit are listed as Tanko Danjuma, Dan-Azumi Danjuma, Miskoom Niemu’ut Mensem, and the Incorporated Trustees of Pa William Mensem Memorial Foundation School.
Sources familiar with the matter told SecretsReporters that the third defendant, Miskoom Niemu’ut Mensem, is a brother of the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem.
The sequence of events has raised questions over whether the involvement of the SSS in the criminal prosecution is connected to the pending land dispute a suggestion that has not been established by any court and has not been publicly acknowledged by the parties involved.
Under Section 2(3) of the National Security Agencies Act, the SSS is primarily mandated to prevent and detect crimes affecting Nigeria’s internal security, safeguard classified non-military matters, and perform other responsibilities assigned by the President. The agency’s decision to prosecute a matter arising from a community WhatsApp publication has therefore drawn scrutiny from legal observers over whether the case falls within its core statutory responsibilities.