Hairdresser granted GH¢150K bail over TikTok threats against Mahama, First Lady

Yayra Abiwu, a hairdresser also known as AY, has been granted bail in the sum of GH1¢150,000 by an Accra Circuit Court.

She is being investigated for allegedly making threats against President John Mahama and First Lady Lordina Mahama on TikTok.

Although Yayra was absent from court on Wednesday due to health issues, her alleged accomplice, Prince Ofori, appeared.

She faces charges of abetment of crime, threat of death, and knowingly making a communication containing a threat of death by electronic means, and has entered a not guilty plea.

Yayra was granted bail by the court with three sureties, two of whom must be gainfully employed.

Additionally, she is required to deposit her passport with the court’s registry and report to the police every Monday.

According to her lawyer, Mr. Enoch Anhwere Afoakwah, Yayra has a fixed place of abode, no prior criminal record, and is not a flight risk. He further stated that her mobile phones had been seized for forensic examination, emphasizing that bail should not serve as punishment.

On August 13, 2025, Ofori, a trader and resident of Abossey Okai, was also charged with offensive conduct conducive to a breach of the peace and knowingly permitting an electronic communication service to be used for offensive communication.

Before High Court Judge Mrs Evelyn Asamoah, who was sitting with additional responsibility as a Circuit Court judge, Ofori pleaded not guilty.

His bail was set at GHC100,000 with three sureties, and he was also required to deposit his passport and report to the police every Monday.

A third suspect, Alberta Okrah, alias Ghana Jollof, is currently at large. Prosecutor ASP Emmanuel Haligah opposed bail for Yayra, citing the seriousness of the threats against the President and First Lady.

According to the defendant’s statement in court, there was undisputed video evidence of her threatening to “kill the President.”

The prosecution claimed that Alberta and Ofori hosted a live-streamed discussion on TikTok in August 2025, where they made offensive and abusive statements against Sammy Gyamfi, which could have provoked a breach of the peace.

Additionally, they allegedly threatened the President’s and First Lady’s lives, saying: “We will kill the President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, and kill him again, in a plane. We will make sure to kill that Mahama,” along with other remarks.

The prosecution said that during the programme, the accused persons actively participated and encouraged the offensive statements.

Alberta and Ofori, as hosts, had full control over the live session but knowingly permitted their platform to be used for making and disseminating the threats.

The matter was reported to the police, and a forensic capture of the live stream was secured as evidence.

Yayra and Ofori are scheduled to reappear in court on August 25, 2025.

Source: GNA