In connection with a suspected ‘Baby Harvesting and Selling’ event that happened in February of this year, four more people have been arrested.
Three babies have been recovered, both safe and well in a foster home, awaiting the final resolution of the cases, according to a statement signed by Dr Divine N. Banyubala, the Acting Registrar of the Medical and Dental Council, and Commissioner of Police Frank Adu-Poku (Rtd), the Executive Director of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO).
According to the release, an investigation into a fourth baby allegedly purchased by Nancy Obayaa Frempong has begun.
It stated that Dr. Hope Quashie Mensah of Susan Clinic in Lartebiokorshie had been detained, that all parties involved had been consulted, and that the docket was almost ready to be sent to the Attorney-Office General’s for advice and prosecution.
According to the release, Dr. Noah Kofi Lartey of Tema General Hospital was also arrested, and the mother (name omitted because she is a minor) of the second infant, who was sold at Tema General Hospital, had been found with the baby’s father and their statements taken.
Nancy Obayaa, who had been on the run since the last press conference on Wednesday, January 20, 2021, was apprehended on Thursday, February 4, and is reportedly on EOCO enquiry bail, assisting with inquiries, according to the release.
Nancy was being investigated on suspicion of not being the maternal mother of the two-year-old boy she had in her custody, according to the release.
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It said she and her partner conspired with Leonard Agbley and Doris Badu to buy the baby unlawfully from an unnamed health center, and that the matter was being investigated.
According to the release, Nelly Tagoe, the nurse in charge of the Tema General Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), was also detained and is reportedly on EOCO enquiry bail, helping with inquiries.
The auntie of the second baby’s mother had already been found and her statement taken, according to the report.
It stated that the docket was nearly ready for referral to the Attorney-Office General’s for advice and prosecution.
According to the report, EOCO obtained information in February 2020 that two women had allegedly gone to Susan Clinic in Lartebiokorshie to buy an infant, which sparked the whole ‘Baby Harvesting and Child Trafficking’ investigation.
This led to the arrest of two women: Florence Acquah, a home help aide in the United States of America (USA) and Eleanor Ofori Nsiah (a former home help aide in the USA) at their residence at Manet in Ogbojo, while attempting to abscond with the baby to Agona Swedru.
According to the statement, Florence was introduced to Dr Hope Quashie Mensah in 2019 to assist her in adopting a child, and Dr Mensah contacted her in February 2020 to tell her that he had a baby eligible for adoption.
Eleanor Ofori Nsiah, who was in Ghana at the time, was called to pick up the infant, and Florence made a $2,500.00 partial payment to Dr Mensah.
Eleanor was arrested on February 4th while completing the baby’s adoption paperwork. She is now on EOCO inquiry bail and supporting investigators. She had the boy, who was just over a year old, in her care when she was captured.
Aku Elevu, the baby’s nanny, was contacted to help with the investigation, according to the release.
The Office had received requests as a result of pending inquiries into cases of baby harvesting, according to the statement.
It said a petition was received on Friday, January 22 from a woman who went to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital to give birth on May 6, 2018. She met a lady head potter (Kayayo) at the hospital who had given birth to a baby boy on May 5 but had abandoned him because she couldn’t afford her GH250 bills.
The complainant requested that the Office look into the whereabouts of the abandoned boy, according to the statement, which added that the matter was still being looked into.
The Office got another petition from a banker on Monday, January 25, 2021, who reported that she was rushed to 37 Military Hospital in April 2016 due to pregnancy complications.
Since there was no bed at Susan Clinic, she said Dr Hope Mensah directed her to his private hospital.
She said she had a natural birth and heard her baby scream, but later learned the baby had died and been discarded without her permission.
According to the release, information was obtained on Tuesday, January 26, 2021 that a baby had been abandoned on a refuse dump at Ogbojo cemetery, and later some residents said the baby had gone missing.
The baby was rushed to the Ogbojo Police Station and then to the Ogbojo Polyclinic for medical treatment, according to EOCO’s investigation.
The baby was then transported to the Greater Accra Regional Hospital by Welfare Officers at Ogbojo Clinic, where the doctor in charge assessed and found the baby clinically fit, according to the article.
According to the release, the baby was then sent to the Hospital’s Social Welfare Officer in Charge and is now staying in a temporary shelter in Accra.
The search for the mother of the abandoned baby was still underway, according to the article.
“We will continue to collaborate to protect public health and safety by preventing and detecting organised crime,” it said.
“We, however, send a word of caution to unscrupulous and faceless individuals spewing threats. The right authorities have been duly informed for the appropriate action to be taken.”
SOURCE: ATLFMONLINE
