Midwife Arrested as Police Widen Net in Child Trafficking Syndicate Probe
A midwife employed at the Trust Mother and Child Hospital in Osu, Accra, has been arrested in connection with an expanding child trafficking investigation, bringing the total number of suspects linked to the syndicate to seven.
The suspect, Lucinda Naomi Otchere, who heads the maternity and labour ward at the facility, is alleged to have played an active role in the criminal network.
Preliminary findings by investigators indicate that she allegedly received a missing seven-year-old girl from a co-suspect, Janet Larbie, and paid GH¢20,000 for the transaction.
She is further alleged to have later paid an additional GH¢35,000 and directed Larbie to deliver a five-year-old girl to a couple based in Pokuase.
Investigators believe the syndicate has been operating its trafficking activities for an extended period.
The arrest follows an earlier operation by the Central East Regional Police Command, which led to the detention of six suspects — Grace Osei-Effie, Regina Ejewa, Janet Larbie, Mary Doce, Yvonne Chumessy, and Sekina Umar — on charges relating to child trafficking and child stealing.
The investigation was launched after the Kasoa Divisional Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit received a missing child report on April 10, 2026, concerning seven-year-old Khadija Karim.
Enquiries established that Khadija had been lured away by Larbie and Umar under false pretences of being taken to meet her biological mother, before being returned to Kasoa and cautioned to remain silent about the ordeal.
Subsequent investigations uncovered a separate case involving a 10-month-old infant and a five-year-old girl, both allegedly removed from their mother under the guise of temporary care.
The infant was traced to the Ashanti Region, where the child had allegedly been sold to Grace Osei-Effie and Regina Ejewa for GH¢35,000. Both the infant and Khadija Karim have since been safely recovered and reunited with their families.
The five-year-old girl believed to have been handed over to a couple in Pokuase near Ejisu, however, remains unaccounted for.
The Ghana Police Service is appealing to the couple in question to come forward voluntarily and surrender the child to the nearest police station or reach out directly to investigators.
Five suspects are currently on remand, while Grace Osei-Effie has been released on court bail. The matter is next scheduled to be heard at the Ofankor Circuit Court on May 13, 2026.
Police say efforts to track down and arrest all remaining members of the syndicate are actively underway.
Comments (0)