We would like to inform the public that the gruesome photo of a tortured male, with open wounds on the back, that has gone viral with the claim that it is Ashburg Kato, a political activist, whom it is alleged went missing on,30th, April, 2019, is fake and a major propaganda tool.
We strongly condemn the circulation of the photo which was established to be an image of a black man tortured in an informal Libyan slave market where they were being sold at an average of $400, as an online smear campaign, that is well coordinated to put the reputation of police and sister security agencies in disrepute.
Once again the public should know that these are tactics being used by selected political actors to make it appear like there is a breakdown on rule of law in the country. The propaganda to portray the Human Rights situation in negative light had targeted the police, when the caption used, suggested that he is under police custody. The claim is not true and we do encourage the victim, (after he resurfaced yesterday) together with relatives and friends to register a complaint ,clearly indicating circumstances under which he initially disappeared and resurfaced for better leads to the investigating team.
It is very disheartening to see such photos and we want to ask all political actors to adopt strategies that are holistic and consistent with mature politics.
We want to advise members of the public to ignore the narrative that wrongly accused the police and delete it. The cyber-crime unit is going ahead to track down the perpetrators who uploaded and circulated the fake photo and bring them to book.
CP Fred Enanga
Police Spokesperson
8th May 2019
