The Airport Divisional Police Command has apprehended two nannies accused of giving sleep-inducing drugs to their employer’s two-year-old twin boys at East Legon in Accra.
The suspects — Francisca Boakye, 30, a student nurse from Konongo in the Ashanti Region, and Harriet Ansah, 31, from Jasikan in the Oti Region — are also alleged to have physically and emotionally abused the children during their time of employment.
According to the Accra Regional Police Command, investigations revealed that the two women reportedly burned the toddlers’ hands with fire and hurled offensive names such as “chimpanzee” at them over an eight-month period.
Superintendent Juliana Obeng, Director of Public Affairs for the Command, said the matter was brought to light when the children’s mother, a 41-year-old businesswoman, noticed unusual sleepiness and behavioural changes in her twins in September 2025.
“Further checks uncovered that the nannies had been giving the children a medication suspected to be Dynewell without their mother’s consent, to keep them asleep for longer hours so they could attend to household chores,” Supt. Obeng explained.
A police search in the suspects’ room uncovered two used sachets and four unused sachets of the suspected substance, which have since been sent for forensic analysis.
Both women have been cautioned, charged, and remanded by the court. They are expected to reappear on October 20, 2025.
The Police Command strongly condemned the act, describing it as “deplorable and inhumane,” and urged parents to be extra vigilant in supervising domestic workers, particularly those caring for children.
