Family and police search for baby boy taken from Kumasi's Asafo Market

Pinned summary · as of 16:27

A baby boy has gone missing from the Cape Coast Bus Terminal area of Asafo Market in Kumasi after, his family says, a woman they did not know took him. Police are investigating, and relatives have asked anyone with information to come forward.

What we know

• According to the baby's uncle, who spoke to both The Press Radio and Rainbow Radio Online, the child's mother sells food at the market and was cooking at about 5am when he was last seen. He said the sleeping infant lay just outside the family's shop, and an unfamiliar woman aged between 37 and 40 had been sitting close by.
• The family's account is that the mother stepped away briefly and, on coming back, found that both the child and the woman were gone. The reports place this at the Cape Coast Bus Terminal at Asafo Market in Kumasi, and describe the child as about five months old.
• Relatives went to the police with the case and have asked members of the public to help bring the child home safely. Police in Kumasi are investigating.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  The Press Radio and Rainbow Radio Online both dated the incident to Saturday, 19 September. Opemsuo 104.7 instead placed it in the early hours of Sunday, 20 September, and called the baby six months old. The reports therefore differ on the date and the child's age.
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  The allegation that the unidentified woman took the child has not been established. The Press Radio said her identity and whereabouts are unknown, that no arrest had been publicly confirmed and that the child had not been found when it reported.
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  Opemsuo 104.7 said police had launched a manhunt for a female suspect, whom relatives described as a short, dark-skinned woman in her late 30s. It also said the parents lodged their complaint at the Asokwa Police Station and that police were working to trace the child and urging the public to report any information to the nearest station. These points come from one report and have not been confirmed elsewhere.
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  Opemsuo 104.7 said the mother put the baby down on a bedsheet and asked her sister, who was running an errand close by, to keep an eye on him, while other reports describe the child lying outside the shop as the mother worked close by. The accounts differ on who was watching the infant.

Why it matters for Ghana

Asafo Market is one of Kumasi's busiest trading points, and many traders there, including nursing mothers, work with young children close at hand. A missing infant leaves a family in distress and worries other vendors, and a quick public tip-off could be what leads police to the child. Anyone with information is being asked to contact the police.