The standoff between the Ghana Police Service and UK-based TikToker Barbara Asantewaa Kodua, popularly known as “Ghana Jollof,” has entered a new phase after she challenged the government to pursue her extradition from the United Kingdom.
Kodua, who has been declared wanted by the Police over alleged incitement of violence and publication of false news, says she would not be returned to Ghana through extradition and maintains that she could only come back voluntarily.
Her comments come as police investigations into the “Ghana Jollof” TikTok account widen, with a senior nursing officer, Salomey Awity Baffoe, already facing a charge of abetment of crime, to wit, publication of false news.
Baffoe has been remanded by the Adentan Circuit Court for two weeks to assist with investigations and is expected to reappear on September 30, 2026. She has pleaded not guilty.
The Police have alleged that Baffoe assisted Kodua in disseminating videos from the account and recruited other people to redistribute the content across social media platforms.
According to the Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), COP Lydia Yaako Donkor, forensic examination of Baffoe’s mobile phone, audio and video files and mobile money records uncovered alleged financial links between the two women.
The Police further allege that Kodua remitted money to Baffoe to support the circulation of the videos, while Baffoe allegedly distributed portions of the funds to others involved in redistributing the material. Investigators say they are also pursuing alleged financial links involving other persons.
Kodua, however, has rejected the allegations and questioned the basis for the arrest of Baffoe. She has claimed that the nurse was not an active social media user and that she has no personal relationship with her.
She has also alleged that Baffoe’s arrest amounts to political persecution because of her husband’s reported political affiliation. That claim remains an allegation by Kodua and has not been established by the court.
The Police, for their part, say their investigation has uncovered a wider network involved in the production, funding and circulation of material associated with the “Ghana Jollof” account. The Service has identified Kodua as the person behind the account and declared her wanted.
Kodua’s latest challenge now places the question of how she could be brought back to Ghana at the centre of the case, particularly as she remains in the United Kingdom.
She argues that an extradition process would not succeed if she were able to establish that the case against her amounted to political persecution.
The Police have not indicated that Kodua has been arrested or that an extradition application has been completed. For now, the Service continues to treat her as a wanted person while investigations into the alleged publication and circulation of the content continue.
