Court Orders Remand Of Ex- Shendam NBA Branch Chairman In DSS custody

• …Fixes Aug 20 to decide propriety of arraignment.

A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered that the former Chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Shendam branch, Plateau State, Gabriel Nkup Tsenyen, be remanded in the custody of the Department of the State Service (DSS) in Abuja.

The lawyer who is also a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state is to remain in DSS custody till August 20 to determine how he would tried for cyberstalking and incitement.

Justice Abdulmalik issued the remand order on Friday when DSS applied for the arraignment of the lawyer on two count charges of alleged cyberstalking and incitement.

Shortly after the lawyer was ordered into the dock for his plea to be taken, his lead counsel and Senior Advocate of Nigeria SAN, Emmanuel Esene, objected to the arraignment.

The senior lawyer told Justice Abdulmalik that his client had already been arraigned at the same Federal High Court in Abuja on the same allegations and that his tria was fixed for September 28.

He expressed shock with the new arraignment bid and pleaded with the judge not to allow it so as to avoid double jeopardy for the lawyer.

Counsel to the DSS, Muinat Oladunjoye, from the office office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice who stood for the prosecution denied knowledge of any other similar charges against the lawyer.

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The situation prompted Justice Abdulmalik to demand for a copy of the earlier charge for the purpose of record which was promptly tendered by Esene SAN.

Justice Abdulmalik also demanded for records of proceedings in respect of the earlier charge but which could not be produced by the defence on the ground that the new charge was new to them.

However, to fully ascertain the earlier arraignment on the same charge, Justice Abdulmalik ordered that records of proceedings on the earlier trial be produced before the court on August 20.

Pending the production of the record of proceedings, the Judge ordered that the accused lawyer be remanded at the DSS detention facility.

The two new count charges against the lawyer are;

COUNT ONE; “That you, Gabriel Nkup Tsenyen, adult, male, of Ngotuguut, Shendam, Plateau, sometime in May 2026, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did send a malicious publication via Ngootuguut local community whatsapp platform alleging that the entire Ngootuguut community was involved in a plot to eliminate you, which you know the content of the said publication to be false but send it out for the purpose of causing annoyance, insult, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, ill will and needless anxiety in the Ngootuguut community and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 24(1) of Cybercrimes (Prevention, Prohibition, etc) Act, 2015, as amended.

COUNT TWO “That you, Gabriel Nkup Tsenyen, adult, male, of Ngotuguut, Shendam, Plateau, sometime in May 2026, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did send a malicious publication via Ngootuguut local community whatsapp platform alleging that the entire Ngootuguut community was involved in a plot to eliminate you, which you know the content of the said publication to be false with intent to incite or cause breach to public peace and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 114 of the Penal Code Act, 2004.
The filing was done by Rotimi Iseoluwa Oyedepo
Director, Public Prosecution of the Federation