Some of the suspects
The Bekwai Circuit Court has remanded 44 suspected sex workers and their clients into police custody following their arrest in a dawn police raid at Watreso, near Manso Adubia.
Presided over by His Honour Isaac Apietu, the court ordered that the suspects be kept in custody and reappear on April 24, 2025.
Proceedings were briefly interrupted when the first five suspects—believed to be Nigerians—were called upon to take their pleas but informed the court they could not speak English, indicating preference for Igbo, Yoruba, or Hausa. Due to the language barrier, the judge directed the court registrar to secure an interpreter proficient in the stated languages.
The prosecution, led by ASP Lloyd Baidoo Esq., the Ashanti South Regional Court Officer and Acting Public Relations Officer, told the court that the suspects were arrested during a police operation targeting illegal brothel activities in the area.
According to the Ashanti South Police Command, the operation was carried out on April 21, 2025, based on intelligence and led by the Deputy District Commander, ASP Charles Boadi Kankam, with support from officers at Manso Adubia and Manso Nkwanta.
Police said the exercise was a follow-up to the earlier arrest of one Esther Egbuhama, a 28-year-old Nigerian woman accused of operating a brothel in the community.
In total, 31 women and 13 men—comprising both Ghanaian and Nigerian nationals—were arrested from multiple premises identified as brothels.
Police retrieved 88 boxes of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) condoms, 30 smartphones, four keypad phones, and quantities of ORIS cigarettes during the operation. A cash sum of GH¢35,000, believed to belong to Ofor Masacanaba, said to be the operator of Mama Gee Lodge, was also seized.
ASP Kankam indicated that the suspects are assisting with investigations as their caution statements are being taken.
The police say the operation forms part of ongoing efforts by the Manso Adubia District Police Command to clamp down on prostitution and dismantle illegal brothel activities in the area.
FROM David Afum, Bekwai