By Chibuike Nwabuko
ABUJA (PRECISE POST) — Human rights lawyer and public affairs commentator, Chidi Odinkalu, has accused the Department of State Services (DSS) of weaponising state power, describing a cybercrime case scheduled to commence on Tuesday at the Federal High Court in Abuja as one of the most glaring examples of abuse of power in Nigeria’s recent history.
In a post on his X (formerly Twitter) handle ahead of the court proceedings, Odinkalu said the case, billed for hearing before Court 4 of the Federal High Court, stems from a longstanding land dispute in Shendam, Plateau State, rather than any genuine national security concern.
According to him, the dispute involves Mr. G.T. Tsenyen, a former Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Shendam Branch, who allegedly accused the President of the Court of Appeal Hon. Justice Monica Bolna’an Dongban-Mensem, of involvement in the forceful acquisition of his family’s land.
Odinkalu explained that Tsenyen had already instituted a civil suit before the High Court of Plateau State in Shendam over the disputed land, while also petitioning the National Judicial Council (NJC) against the appellate court president.
He noted that the NJC reportedly declined to treat the complaint as judicial misconduct, maintaining that the matter should be resolved through the civil courts.
The rights advocate, however, expressed concern that the DSS had now filed criminal charges against Tsenyen under the Cybercrimes Act over comments allegedly made on a community WhatsApp platform concerning the land dispute.
Odinkalu described the prosecution as a “bizarre twist,” arguing that the allegations relate to a private civil matter and should not have been transformed into a federal criminal case in Abuja.
He further questioned why a dispute originating in Plateau State was being prosecuted in the Federal High Court in the nation’s capital, alleging that authorities had “invented a federal charge” where none should exist.
The former chairman of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission also criticised what he described as misplaced priorities by the DSS, arguing that the agency should be concentrating on addressing the persistent wave of deadly attacks and insecurity in Plateau State rather than prosecuting a land dispute-related matter.
He lamented that while communities in Plateau continue to grapple with recurring killings, the country’s domestic intelligence agency was being diverted to a case that, in his view, bears no connection to Nigeria’s internal security.
Precise Post recalls that the Federal High Court in Abuja is expected to hear the matter on Tuesday. However, neither the DSS nor the other parties mentioned in the case had publicly responded to Odinkalu’s allegations as of the time of filing this report.
