Ibrahim Mahama, the Renowned Ghanaian visual artist and CEO of Red Clay, has narrated the alleged assault he suffered in Tamale at the hands of the IGP’s Special Task Force, commonly known as “Black Maria”.
According to Ibrahim Mahama, the alleged IGP’s Special Task Force, commonly known as “Black Maria”, started punching him in the face.
Ibrahim Mahama further detailed that the police officers threatened to kill them at the police station, and nothing would happen.
Speaking in a video clip from a public engagement shared by GTV on March 23, 2026, Ibrahim Mahama narrated, “They started punching me in the face. I still needed to open my phone so that they could delete whatever photos and videos were on it. And I said, I’ll open it. And then they kept inflicting their pain on me. So at some point, I just opened the phone for them. And then Jalil himself was there. He was at the scene in the beginning; he was next to us. I saw his face in the car when he got down.
“When we got to the station, he himself even attempted to slap me when we were there, and my uncle told him that, oh, don’t you … Even when we got there, the police officers who were on site at Sakasaka told him that, but don’t you know that that’s the guy for Red Clay, Mr Ibrahim Mahama, the one who was given a diplomatic passport. When they said, ‘we don’t care, diplomatic my foot’,” he said.
He further narrated, “I remember when we were at the station, one of them even authored a statement that if we joke, ‘they will kill us and nothing would happen’,”
Ibrahim Mahama further disclosed that not even the mention of the name of his father, Alhaji Savannah, could save him from the hands of the “Black Maria”.
“They said that ‘Alhaji Savannah, what’s his contribution to their party? Don’t you know how we suffered for the party? What nonsense are you talking about?’ So at that point, I realised that there was actually no hope. We didn’t have a phone, nothing. We couldn’t do anything,”v he said.
According to him, the police’s claim that they were saving him and his team from a mob attack was completely false, adding that the video showing his driver begging the leader of “Black Maria” was doctored.
It will be recalled that Ibrahim Mahama, who was allegedly assaulted by the IGP’s special operations team, also known as Black Maria, in Tamale.
Reports suggest he was beaten for filming the Black Maria team as they unsuccessfully forced their way through a traffic jam while on a mission.
Speaking in an interview, Ibrahim Mahama stated, “They broke into our bus, forced me to open my phone and deleted the pictures. From the beginning to the end, everything was an assault”.
“The Police (Black Maria) team with their sirens tried to pass through the traffic by clearing the way, but were not successful. After several attempts, they began confronting the motorists, which resulted in physical assault on the civilians,” he explained.
“They beat us up and forced my boss Ibrahim Mahama to open his password and delete the videos. They took us to Sakasaka Police Station and beat us up again,” Ibrahim Mahommed further stated.
Following the assault, Ibrahim Mahama and the other injured persons were taken to Habannah Hospital in Tamale for treatment.
The artist lost two of his front teeth as a result of the attack.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Police Service has confirmed a probe into the assault on the internationally-acclaimed artist and Founder and owner of Red Clay Studio, Ibrahim Mahama, by “some officers”, but denies Black Maria’s involvement.
According to the Police, Black Maria Team was withdrawn from the Northern Region by the IGP on March 5.
In a statement issued by the Police, they wrote, “The Northern Regional Police Command has commenced investigations into a reported assault on visual artist, Mr Ibrahim Mahama, by some officers in Tamale.
The Command assures the public that updates of the ongoing investigation will be duly communicated.
Meanwhile, claims in sections of the media that the Special Operations Team (The Black Maria) was involved in this case are false, since the team has been out of the Northern Region following their withdrawal by the Inspector-General of Police on Thursday, the 5th of March. 2026”.
Watch the video below:
Ibrahim Mahama narrate how the police assaulted him, ask what his father has contributed to the NDC party and tried to bury the evidence.
— KWESI 🦚 (@_JustKwesi) March 23, 2026
Shameful!!! pic.twitter.com/tZGZytrbqA