An unidentified man who had previously made threats of robbing the Bank of Ghana (BoG) with his gang and weapons, has now recanted his statements, asserting that it was only meant as a joke.

Earlier this week, a video that went viral on social media showed a man, thought to be in his mid-20s, stating his plans to rob the Bank of Ghana. In the video, he issued a warning to the Ghana Police and the Military to be vigilant as they prepare for their intended action.

However, just two days after the video went viral, the man, who remains unidentified, addressed the situation, claiming that his words were part of a broader conversation he had with a friend living in Qatar.

According to him, his friend had shared the video with malicious intent.

“Ghana Police and Ghana media, I am pleading with you. The video is not what it appears to be. The people who saw the video and perceived me as an armed robber, I am not one. Anybody who knows me can attest to the fact that I haven’t been robbed before.

“The only thing is that my mouth is trying to cause trouble for me if it hasn’t done that already. I am pleading with everybody who saw and broadcasted the first one, they should do the same to this one,” he said.

In his explanation, the man said that during the conversation, he disagreed with his friend, urging him to refrain from insulting the leaders of Ghana.

His friend reportedly replied saying that life in Qatar was difficult, they should return to Ghana.

He indicated that at the time of the reply from his friend, he had already deleted the portion of the video where he mentioned robbing the Bank of Ghana.

“In the video, I argued with him [reference to his friend] and I told him to stop peddling insults at the leaders of this country because Ghana belongs to all of us. Being it beautiful or not, it is for all of us. If you go to my page, you will find other videos I did advising him against insulting the leaders of this country.

“After, he replied to my message to say that, if Qatar is not a good country to live in, then he will let me return to Ghana. At the time of his reply, I had deleted that video that captured me saying I was going to rob the BoG,” he continued.

To him, his friend allegedly took advantage of the situation and edited the video, leaving the threatening part and sharing it without context.

The man insisted that he never had any intention of carrying out a robbery and that the edited video was misleading.

“But because of his mischief, he saved that one and cropped it to the part I indicated I was going to rob Bank of Ghana, he didn’t bring out the full video. So, I am pleading with you, Ghana Police that is not the full video,” he added.