Claim: A TikTok video, which has been widely circulated on social media, suggests that some Ghanaian police confiscated ransom money being smuggled into the country by Nigerian kidnappers.
The claim is misleading. DUBAWA discovered that the video was taken in 2019 in Ghana during a collision on Techiman-Kumasi road involving a Bank of Ghana bullion van and a fuel tanker. The video has nothing to do with kidnappers from Nigeria and the accompanying claim is misleading.
Full Text
In Nigeria, terror gangs, popularly called bandits, kidnap people for ransom. Demand for ransom is now on the rise and has become an illicit, but lucrative business for terrorists across Nigeria.
Leveraging on this, some social media users have started circulating a TikTok video to suggest that Ghaninan police seized the ransom money being smuggled into the country by Nigerian kidnappers.
The TikTok video was captioned, “Ghana police intercepted billions of naira being smuggled out of Nigeria by bandits.”
In a close observation of the video, DUBAWA discovers that there were several crates, containing what looked like bank notes, scattered on a road. A blue van and white fuel tanker were also visible in the video, as well as armed security officials.
When DUBAWA read through the comments, it was discovered that there was confusion among social media users. While some believe the video has something to do with Nigeria, some queried the source of the video.
To avoid further confusion, and to set the record straight, DUBAWA decides to check the accuracy of the video being circulated.
Verification
DUBAWA conducted a frame-by-frame analysis of the video on the InVid Video verification tool. Results from the analysis show that the earliest version of the video was uploaded on a YouTube channel called Chasm TV on 5th October 2019.
The earliest version of the video was captioned: “Money scattered after Bank of Ghana bullion van collided with a tanker.”
Going through the 29-second video, DUBAWA observed that the video was identical to the one being circulated to portray the confiscation of ransom money by Nigerian kidnappers.
Keywords like “Ghana bullion van collided with a tanker” took DUBAWA to a report published by Ghanaian media on the crash. Media organizations, like Joy Online, Pulse Ghana, and Within Nigeria also published the crash.
The report which was captioned: “Cash flows after BoG bullion van collides with fuel tanker; one confirmed dead (video),” explained that the video showed a collision on Techiman-Kumasi road in Ghana, involving a Bank of Ghana bullion van and a fuel tanker.
According to the report, the crash which took place on 4th September 2019 led to the death of one person, while several others sustained serious injuries.
The report partly reads, “A joint team of the Military, Police, Fire Service, Immigration and the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) cordoned off the crash scene and collected the scattered money into various security vehicles. Monies from the scene of the crash will be kept at the Police Divisional Headquarters cells under the guard of the Military, Police and Bank of Ghana security officers.”
Conclusion
The TikTok video suggesting that some Ghanaian police confiscated ransom money being smuggled into the country by Nigerian kidnappers is misleading. DUBAWA discovered that the video was taken in 2019 in Ghana during a collision on Techiman-Kumasi road involving a Bank of Ghana bullion van and a fuel tanker. The video has nothing to do with Nigerian kidnappers.
Sarfo