Two Social Welfare staff arrested for stealing and selling baby

Two Senior officials of the Social Welfare Department in Kumasi have been picked up by the Police for stealing and selling a day old baby.

Probation Officer Evelyn Jemima Alangia and her colleague Samuel Obeng Afriyie who’s a Justice Administration Officer admit selling the baby to a couple for more than GHC16,000.

The mother of the baby who hails from Lawra in the Upper West Region had sought support from the Regional Office of the Social Welfare Department last year after her boyfriend abandoned her with the pregnancy. She reportedly met Evelyn who asked her to call when she was due for delivery.

Evelyn then took her to a private maternity home in Kumasi and stole the baby the day it was born. She’s said to have told the nursing mother that her sick baby had been referred to a nearby hospital for further observation. She later returned to the maternity ward and told the baby’s mother that the baby had passed on when she was still alive.

According to the Ashanti Regional Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Juliana Obeng on 3rd February 2018, Evelyn gave the baby to an applicant who had gone through adoption process for a child at the Social Welfare Department.

She charged the couple an amount of GHC16,000 for the process, but unknown to the couple, the baby was a stolen one.

The Police has questioned managers of the private maternity home as the suspects are processed for court.

The Police has since taken custody of the baby after admitting the two suspects to bail.