9 arrested for peddling fake news …about genitals disappearance
Nine persons have been arrested by the police in some parts of the country for peddling fake news that their genitals have disappeared.
The suspects (names withheld) were apprehended at Ashiaman in Greater Accra Region, Nkawkaw in the Eastern Region and Kasoa in the Central Region.
A press statement issued and signed by the Director of the Police Public Affairs, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP)Grace Ansah-Akrofi, sighted by the Ghanaian Times in Accra, yesterday, indicated that six persons were arrested at Kasoa, two in Ashiaman, and another in Nkawkaw, for claiming that their genitals were missing.
The alleged fake news, according to the police, had brought fear and panic among the public, and attacks on innocent citizenry.
According to the statement, police investigations, including medical examination, revealed that the claims by the suspects were false.
It said five of the suspects have been taken to court, three of them remanded in police custody and two were granted bail.
The statement said the rest were on police inquiry bail and would soon appear in court.
The Ghana Police Service has expressed concern about the increasing false claim of disappearing of genitals, and blamed innocent bystanders, who made such claims resulting in mob attacks.
The police reminded the public that such acts were likely to cause harm to innocent people and disturb public peace.
It would be recalled that for the past week, there had been series of incidence of alleged genital disappearance, in the social media.
Videos, which have gone viral, showed people attacking alleged suspects for claiming that their genitals have disappeared.
BY ANITA NYARKO-YIRENKYI
