Court remands ex-NBA chairman in DSS custody

A former Chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association's Shendam branch, Gabriel Nkup Tsenyen, faces potential double jeopardy as the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered his remand in the custody of the Department of State Services. The court will determine on August 20 whether Tsenyen, also a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Plateau State, can be tried afresh on charges of cyberstalking and incitement to breach public peace.

“

Anytime, anywhere we have sirens or fire trucks, ambulances, please let us give right-of-way. Because every second, every minute counts. Fire does not wait for anybody.

The remand order came after the DSS attempted to arraign Tsenyen on a new two-count charge. His lead counsel, Emmanuel Esene, objected to the arraignment, stating that his client had already been brought before the same court on identical allegations. The earlier case, Esene argued, was adjourned for trial on September 28, and a fresh arraignment would expose Tsenyen to double jeopardy.

“

During an emergency, the public has a role to play. Giving fire trucks a clear path, keeping unnecessary crowd away, providing useful information to responders and sharing verified information can make a real difference to the speed and effectiveness of our response.

However, the DSS counsel, Muinat Oladunjoye, stated she was unaware of any previous charges against Tsenyen. To resolve the conflicting positions, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik requested the defense to provide a copy of the earlier charge, which was presented. The judge then sought the record of proceedings from the prior case to ascertain if the allegations were indeed the same. The defense, caught by surprise by the new charge filed on August 13, could not immediately produce the record.

“

Resilience is not all about responding to fire occurrence. It is about prevention, early detection, professional response, and learning from every experience.

Justice Abdulmalik ordered the record of proceedings to be produced on August 20. Pending the examination of these documents, Tsenyen was ordered to be held in the DSS detention facility. The new charge, filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Iseoluwa Oyedepo, alleges that Tsenyen sent a malicious publication on a WhatsApp platform in May 2026, falsely accusing a local community of plotting to eliminate him. The prosecution claims this was done to cause annoyance, insult, intimidation, enmity, hatred, ill will, and anxiety within the community.

“

Public trust for fire service is very, very important. Over the years, certain stereotypes and perceptions have been built around fire service. Like, if they call them, there is no water. If they call them, there is no fuel. If they call them, they will arrive late.