Facebook Publication: Gombe Businessman Seeks N50m Damages Over Alleged Police Extortion

An article shared on Facebook has landed a Gombe-based businessman and his lawyer in a legal battle with the police.

The duo have accused some officers of unlawful arrest, intimidation, alleged extortion and seizure of personal belongings.

Ahmed Shuaibu, popularly known as Gara Gombe, and his lawyer, Ezekiel Samuel Tizhe, told the Federal High Court in Gombe that police collected N700,000 from them for bail, seized the businessman’s mobile phone, and withheld the lawyer’s call-to-bar certificate and Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) identity card.

The two applicants demanded N50 million in exemplary damages, the return of the allegedly withheld belongings and a public apology in two national newspapers.

The dispute reportedly began after Gara published an article on Facebook on August 12, 2026, titled, “Gombe, Gombawa and Matters Arising (12): H.E. Sen. Danjuma Goje: Wrong Diagnosis Leads to Bad Prescription.”

A complainant subsequently accused him of publishing defamatory statements capable of exposing him to hatred, ridicule and contempt, as well as damaging his professional reputation.

The complaint also alleged offences of criminal mischief and criminal defamation under Sections 327 and 391 of the Penal Code Law.

However, Gara and Tizhe challenged the legality of the police action, arguing that the arrest warrant issued by Chief Magistrate Court No. 15, Gombe, over the Facebook publication was unconstitutional and that the court lacked jurisdiction over the alleged cybercrime and criminal defamation offences.

In their application, they alleged that the police continued to withhold Gara’s phone despite the production of a surety. They also accused officers of refusing to release Tizhe’s professional documents and sending threatening text messages to the surety’s wife.

The applicants argued that the alleged actions violated their fundamental rights under Sections 34, 35, 36, 37, 41 and 46 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

They are asking the court to order the police to refund the N700,000 allegedly collected, release the seized belongings and pay $2,500 in compensation for losses they said followed the confiscation of Gara’s phone.

In a separate but related development, Chief Magistrate Court 14, Tumfure, Gombe, issued an interim order on October 29 restraining the police from further arresting, intimidating or harassing Gara or his surety over the matter.

The order, issued by Chief Magistrate Umar Jani Bello, directed the police to desist from conduct intended to unlawfully intimidate or harass the businessman and his surety.

The court said the matter had initially been referred to the office of the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Force Criminal Investigation Department, Gombe State, by Chief Magistrate Court No. 15, Bogo, before its transfer to the Tumfure court on the directive of the state Chief Judge, Justice Halima Mohammed, following a petition by Gara and his lawyer.

The matter was subsequently referred to the Criminal Investigation Department of the Gombe State Police Command for investigation.

The fundamental rights suit, which also names the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, the Police Service Commission, Tanko Isiyaku Gwamna and ASP Abubakar Balarabe as respondents, is scheduled for further proceedings on November 9, 2026, at the Tumfure Magistrate Court.