Globally acclaimed Ghanaian visual artist Ibrahim Mahama has been hospitalized after an alleged assault by some unknown officials from the Ghana Police Service special operations team known as Black Maria in Tamale.
According to sources, the 39-year-old founder of Tamale’s Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art and the first African to top ArtReview’s 2025 power list, was attacked Saturday amid Eid al-Fitr traffic near Mariam Hotel.
Reports indicate that unidentified officers from a special police unit broke into his corporate bus, assaulted him and his staff, forced him to unlock his phone, and deleted photos, leaving him with two lost front teeth, a cut lip, and his uncle, the driver, also injured.
The Ghana Police Service launched investigations by the Northern Regional Command and Professional Standards Bureau, denying involvement of the withdrawn ‘Black Maria’ unit.
In a statement signed by Chief Inspector Luckman Niendow Alhassan, Public Relations Officer for the Northern Regional Police Command, the police have assured the public that updates of the ongoing investigation will be duly communicated.
The statement further clarified that 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.
Meanwhile, public figures have condemned the incident and called for accountability.
By Prince Fiifi Yorke