Chad provincial council president detained over defamation complaint

The president of the Borkou Provincial Council in Tchad, Ahmat Bedei Toullomi, was taken into custody late Thursday afternoon in N’Djamena and transferred to the General Coordination of the Judicial Police.

The arrest occurred at the La Résidence Hotel, just before 5 p.m., following a legal complaint filed for defamation and public insults.

According to documents reviewed, the complaint was lodged by Goudje Gueillet Hemchi and Kodou Omari, who allege that Ahmat Bedei Toullomi’s social media posts falsely implicated them in a cocaine trafficking operation in Tchad.

The complainants firmly deny these accusations, calling them « completely false, baseless, and slanderous, » insisting the claims have damaged their honor and reputation.

A summons warrant was issued on August 4, 2026 by the prosecutor’s office near the N’Djamena Court of First Instance, requiring Ahmat Bedei Toullomi to respond to the allegations against him.

Prior to his arrest, he had been summoned multiple times but failed to appear. After more than ten days of unanswered summons, law enforcement intervened to bring him in for questioning.

Within minutes of his detention, a message appeared on his Facebook page at 5:10 p.m., stating: « Either the Marshal is for all of us, or the traffickers are stronger than the law. I’ve been abducted. »

At this stage, the detention remains a judicial procedure related to the defamation case.