We were attacked by the Black Maria - Ibrahim Mahama debunks police report

Following an earlier police statement denying that Ghanaian visual artist and CEO of Red Clay, Ibrahim Mahama, was assaulted by the IGP’s Special Operations Team, popularly known as the “Black Maria,” the artist has challenged the claim.

In an interview with Citi FM, sighted by GhanaWeb on March 21, 2026, Ibrahim Mahama, while recounting the incident, stated that the assault occurred after his uncle cautioned the police officers who were allegedly attempting to bypass traffic.

According to him, his uncle's comment triggered the officers, who angrily attacked.

We went to a mosque to pray, and on our way back from the mosque, the entire road was blocked, and there was traffic... We were driving a bus, and there was another bus coming. So at the end of the day, we just stopped so that we could control the traffic a bit. And then we saw this police car coming, they were trying to escape the traffic. And then, my uncle saw like an opening so that we could escape the traffic a bit.

"And then they started banging on the car... And then my uncle made a statement saying that, you people don't behave like this. Sometimes, if your government is in power and you are behaving like this. One day, you will also not be in power. And these people said, why did we do that? And they just jumped, starting to break into the bus, and once they did, they started beating us and punching us in the face and even breaking my tooth," he said.

Ibrahim Mahama further refuted the police claim that the “Black Maria” unit was not involved in the incident.

Visual artist Ibrahim Mahama hospitalised after brutal police attack – Report

According to him, the leader of the Special Operations Team was present at the time of the alleged assault and was the same person who escorted them to the police station to file a report.

“No, it was the Black Maria, and their leader himself was there. He was the one who took us to the station. We wrote a statement, and we are going back to the station.

“My uncle and I, my wife and others were dropped off already... If they were on the bus, it would have been something else. My uncle was also injured. We were using a Toyota bus. They were a lot, I couldn't tell because they were punching us left and right, but they were like eight people,” he added.

Listen to the full interview below:

Renowned Artist, Ibrahim Mahama narrates how he was assaulted, allegedly by the Police Special Operations Team (The Black Maria), in an exclusive interview Citi News.#Police #IbrahimMahama #CitiNewsroom #ChannelOneNews #CitiFM #ChannelOneTV pic.twitter.com/edMG9sMVVi

— CITI FM 97.3 (@Citi973) March 21, 2026