The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday ordered that Gabriel Nkup Tsenyen, a former chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Shendam branch, in Plateau State, be remanded in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) pending a ruling on the propriety of his fresh arraignment.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik adjourned the matter until August 20 to determine whether Tsenyen, who is also a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Plateau State, can be tried afresh over allegations of cyberstalking and incitement to breach public peace.
The development followed an attempt by the DSS to arraign the lawyer on a fresh two-count charge bordering on cyberstalking and incitement.
However, shortly after Tsenyen was called into the dock to take his plea, his lead counsel, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Emmanuel Esene, objected to the arraignment.
Esene told the court that his client had already been arraigned before the same court on the same allegations and that the earlier case had been adjourned until September 28 for trial.
He urged the court to reject the fresh arraignment, arguing that allowing it could expose his client to double jeopardy.
Counsel for the DSS, Muinat Oladunjoye, who appeared for the prosecution from the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, however, told the court that she was unaware of any previous charge against Tsenyen.
Following the conflicting claims, Justice Abdulmalik asked the defence to produce a copy of the earlier charge.
Esene subsequently tendered the document before the court.
The judge then requested the record of proceedings in the earlier case to determine whether Tsenyen had indeed been arraigned on the same allegations.
The defence said it could not immediately produce the record because the fresh charge had come as a surprise to them on Thursday, August 13.
Justice Abdulmalik consequently ordered that the record of proceedings in the earlier case be produced on August 20.
Pending the production and examination of the record, the judge ordered that Tsenyen remain in DSS custody.
The fresh charge was filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Iseoluwa Oyedepo.
In the first count, the prosecution alleged that Tsenyen, sometime in May 2026, made a malicious publication on the Ngootuguut local community WhatsApp platform, claiming that the entire community was involved in a plot to eliminate him.
The prosecution alleged that Tsenyen knew the publication to be false and made it “for the purpose of causing annoyance, insult, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, ill will and needless anxiety” within the community.
The alleged offence was said to be contrary to and punishable under Section 24(1) of the Cybercrimes (Prevention, Prohibition, etc.) Act 2015, as amended.
In the second count, the prosecution alleged that Tsenyen made the same publication “with intent to incite or cause breach to public peace.”
The alleged offence was said to be contrary to and punishable under Section 114 of the Penal Code Act, 2004.
The court is expected to determine on August 20, among other issues, whether the fresh charges concern allegations for which Tsenyen had previously been arraigned and whether a fresh trial is legally permissible.
