The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the remand of a former Chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association, Shendam branch, Plateau State, Gabriel Nkup Tsenyen in the custody of the Department of State Services pending a decision on his proposed fresh arraignment.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik made the order on Friday after the defence objected to the attempt by the DSS to arraign Tsenyen, who is also a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Plateau State, on fresh charges of cyberstalking and incitement to breach public peace.
The judge adjourned the matter until August 20 to determine whether Tsenyen can be tried afresh over the allegations.
The development followed an attempt by the prosecution to arraign the lawyer on a two-count charge. However, shortly after he was called into the dock to take his plea, his lead counsel, Senior Advocate of Nigeria Emmanuel Esene, objected.
Esene told the court that his client had already been arraigned before the same court over the same allegations and that the earlier case had been adjourned until September 28 for trial.
He argued that allowing the fresh arraignment could expose Tsenyen to double jeopardy and urged the court to reject the move.
Counsel for the DSS, Muinat Oladunjoye, who represented the prosecution from the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, said she was unaware of any previous charge against the defendant.
Following the conflicting submissions, Justice Abdulmalik directed the defence to produce a copy of the earlier charge. Esene subsequently presented the document to the court.
The judge then requested the record of proceedings in the earlier case to determine whether Tsenyen had indeed been previously 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.
Justice Abdulmalik consequently ordered that the record be produced on August 20 and directed that Tsenyen remain in DSS custody pending the determination.
The fresh charges were 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, circulated a malicious publication on the Ngootuguut local community WhatsApp platform, alleging that the entire community was plotting to eliminate him.
The prosecution claimed that he knew the publication to be false and circulated it with the intention of causing annoyance, criminal intimidation, hatred, ill will and anxiety within the community.
The alleged offence was said to contravene Section 24(1) of the Cybercrimes (Prevention, Prohibition, etc.) Act, 2015, as amended.
In the second count, the prosecution alleged that Tsenyen made the publication with the intention of inciting or causing a breach of public peace, contrary to Section 114 of the Penal Code Act, 2004.
The court is expected to determine on August 20 whether the fresh charges relate to allegations for which Tsenyen had previously been arraigned and whether a fresh trial is legally permissible.
