Social media fanatic who threatened to bomb EC and TV3 arrested

A social media fanatic who used his Twitter handle to threaten staff of Media General (TV3 Network) and who claimed that the offices of the Electoral Commission (EC) would be bombed has been arrested by the security agencies.

The 28-year-old suspect, Saeed Mohammed, admitted after his arrest that he is the user of the Twitter account @Mujahid Ibn Khalid, which was the handle used in posting the threats to the two institutions (Media General and the EC).

The tweet by Mujahid Ibn Khalid, posted at 7.11am on 16 December 2020, stated: “This year whether Mahama or not we will bomb EC.”

Other tweet on the same handle read as follows: “Bomb will clear such a crowd who celebrates fraud election.”

“The Hypocrites in TV3 will die like dogs, your lives are in danger but you don’t know.”

Blank refusal

Presidential and parliamentary elections were held in Ghana on Monday 7 December 2020.

The chair of the EC and returning officer for the presidential elections, Jean Mensa, declared Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo the president-elect on 9 December 2020, 48 hours after the elections. Akufo-Addo won 6,730,587 votes, representing 51.3% of the total valid votes cast.

His closest contender, John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), polled 6,213,182 votes, or 47.36% of the valid votes cast.

However, the opposition NDC and its losing presidential candidate have refused to accept the result and have incited the party faithful to demonstrate against the outcome of the election, which has been described by both internal and external observers as one of the most credible, free and fair held in Ghana.

The threats by the suspect, who is now a guest of the state, are seen as one of the tools being used by NDC supporters to mount what political analysts have described as unwarranted protests against the outcome of Election 2020.

Wilberforce Asare

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