The standard GitLab API supports PATCH'ing an existing protected branch to set the code_owner_approval_required flag. Otherwise the current gitlab4j appears to require unprotecting then protecting the branch with the new setting (which would leave the branch unprotected for some window of time, which you don't want).
For example, curling the API directly you could do something like this:
curl --request PATCH --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/5/protected_branches/feature-branch?code_owner_approval_required=true"