The suspect
The Ghana Police Service has arrested Latifa Salifu, 33, as suspect in connection with the alleged theft of a four-day-old baby boy from the postnatal ward of Mamprobi Polyclinic in Accra.
The arrest was made after the Police Service launched an investigation to apprehend the suspect and retrieve the baby, following the trending of a viral image showing the suspect, captured by the hospital’s closed-circuit television (CCTV), allegedly wrapping a baby in cloth and getting out of the healthcare facility.
According to reports, the newborn baby was stolen from the polyclinic hours after the mother underwent a cesarean section. CCTV footage captured the suspect fleeing on a motorbike.
Later that afternoon, the baby’s relatives stormed the facility, accusing hospital staff of being involved. Heated confrontations were recorded on video, with one family member alleging the child had been stolen to be sold.
Hours later, the Ghana Police Service in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Ablekuma South, West and Odododiodio Members of Parliament reunited the newborn mother with the child.
The police further disclosed that the suspect has been arrested and is assisting with investigation.
Speaking during a press briefing on Wednesday, February 18, 2026, Superintendent Juliana Obeng, Head of Public Affairs for the Accra Region, said around 10 a.m. on February 17, Abigail Dzikunu, accompanied by Henrita Abe Blessed, reported that an unidentified woman, disguised as a nurse, had stolen a newborn from the hospital’s postnatal ward.
She said the baby’s mother, Precious Ankomah, who delivered her son on February 14, 2026, told police that “a woman dressed in a nurse’s peach-coloured uniform took the baby under the pretext of administering medication and disappeared.
Police immediately visited the facility, obtained statements, and launched a manhunt. At about 3:40 a.m. on Wednesday, February 18, officers arrested Latifa Salifu, a cloth seller in Accra, at the premises of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, where she was found with a baby suspected to be the missing child.
The suspect claimed she had delivered at the hospital and was discharged due to a lack of care; however, police investigations found no records to support her claim.
The suspect is currently in police custody, while arrangements are being made to place the baby under hospital care for safekeeping, further investigations, and medical attention.
Healthcare Security
Supt Obeng has called for tighter security measures across healthcare facilities, emphasising on the need for proper verification before releasing babies, the maintenance of visitor logs in postnatal wards, the installation and active monitoring of CCTV systems, and the prompt reporting of any suspicious activity.
“We expect that hospitals and health facilities reinforce strict identification protocols for staff and visitors, ensure babies are released only after proper verification, and install and monitor CCTV systems in maternity wards, including entrances,” she said.
Fake Suspect, DNA Requested
Following the arrest, many of the eyewitnesses, friends and family members of the victim have stormed the Dansoman Police Station, demanding for the release of the alleged suspect, stating that the woman in police custody was not the suspect captured on the CCTV camera.
According to them, the footage captured on the CCTV camera and available to them compared to the pictures making waves on social media of the suspect are two different personalities, hence they are suspecting foul play.
With the above allegations, Frank Banks Misbau, uncle of the baby, has called for a DNA test to confirm the child’s biological identity.
Speaking to journalists, Mr. Misbau stressed the need for scientific confirmation of the child’s identity.
“We need to conduct a DNA test to ensure that the baby is ours; we cannot just accept it because she brought it. What if in the next 10 years we want to travel with the kid and things are not matching,” he said.
BY Prince Fiifi Yorke
