Assault in police custody: How media, social media users circulated doctored images, false narratives

Recent social media conversations and media reports have been dominated by matters surrounding the inflammatory religious rhetoric from two clergymen, one a Muslim and the other a Christian. 

Their respective comments were deemed incendiary (hate speech) by the police and on the back of multiple calls for their arrests and questioning after particular video clips of their statements went viral on TikTok, the police announced their arrests.

Reasons for the arrests

A police statement about the arrests read: “The Ghana Police Service, in collaboration with the National Signals Bureau (NSB), has arrested suspect Masud Abdullah, aged 35, in connection with a video in which he made statements advocating violence against persons who speak ill of Prophet Mohammed.

“In a related development, the Cyber Vetting and Enforcement Team has arrested suspect Daniel Junior Yaw Adjei alias Apostle Daniel JY Adjei who was seen in a video making derogatory and offensive comments about Prophet Mohammed. Investigations are ongoing and both suspects will be taken through the due process of the law,” the statement added.

The viral Police Headquarters slapping incident

On August 12, 2026; a viral video of a Muslim man slapping the detained pastor at the Police headquarters went viral. After the slap, he is seen interrogating the handcuffed pastor in the corridors and later in an office in the building. 

Calls for the arrest of the man who slapped the pastor gained traction on social media late August 12 into August 13, with the police announcement of a manhunt for the man. The Interior Ministry also issued a statement calling for swift action on the matter.

The viral video of the slap was widely reported by news outlets (here, here, here) and was also discussed on radio and television stations. GhanaFact observed that even though the image of the slap was a screengrab from a video, a brighter version had been reproduced and circulated online.

Media houses like GhanaWeb and Adomonline switched to using this propped up image, which per our checks was doctored, likely AI-generated. Joy FM also used a doctored image but blurred the faces. We traced their image to Daily View Gh’s post on Facebook.

Misinformation trails police image of arrested suspect 

After the police announced having arrested the assaulter captured in the video, they published an image of the man identified as Seebamay Zakaria also in handcuffs with his face blurred, in line with police standards established in 2021 under the former IGP.

“… we have resolved to no longer show or display faces of suspects who are yet to be convicted. The faces and identities of suspects shall be fully displayed only when the suspects are properly convicted before a competent court of law,” the December 2021 policy reads. 

But it wasn’t long before some social media users began questioning the suspect’s identity, citing an image supposedly of the unblurred face of the suspect. It is worthy of note that Adom TV amplified that claim in two broadcasts (here) including in an exchange with the Interior Ministry spokesperson (here).

What we found was that the second image was a doctored version of the original one posted by the police, that notwithstanding, it got some traction on social media platforms where people repeatedly accused police of having arrested someone to cover up for a big man.

GhanaFact also observed another claim made on social media by lawyer and activist Oliver Barker-Vormawo who suggested in a Facebook post that the arrested suspect was a government employee. 

His post published shortly after police announced a manhunt read: “Ghana police says they have launched manhunt for a man who works with the ministry of interior. Yoo, all our hunters should gather around erh,” and had gained significant traction as follows: 1,800 reactions, 473 comments and 91 shares. Our independent checks at the ministry showed that suspect Zakaria was not in any way connected to the ministry.

The suspect was also reported to be an appointee of the President on the Hajj Board per a viral flyer by Ghana Today, a social media platform engaged in disinformation via its Facebook and X handles predominantly.

The Pilgrims Affairs Office of Ghana (Hajj Board) subsequently issued a statement clarifying that the accused was not associated with the office in any capacity.

Way forward

Even though the three people in question had been arrested by the police, it appears that no charges were proffered against any of them. All three were present at an engagement between the Police Management Board (POMAB) and religious leaders at the Police Headquarters on August 14, 2026.

But online, the back and forth about whether police indeed arrested the wrong man continues and the AI-generated images and footprints relative to this episode remains on the portals that (mis) reported without any transparency and or disclosures.

At GhanaFact, we remain committed to combating instances of mis and disinformation and secure the integrity of the information space online and offline.