Footage from the Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) surveillance system at Gulu Regional Referral Hospital has played a pivotal role in the recovery of a one-day-old baby boy who was stolen from the hospital’s maternity ward on Monday afternoon.
The newborn was recovered on Tuesday in Laguti Sub-county, Pader District, after community vigilantes intercepted a suspect identified as Kevin Lamaro, a resident of the area.
According to hospital officials, the suspect allegedly gained the trust of the baby’s mother, who had given birth only hours earlier, by offering to help take the infant for routine immunisation. But after obtaining the necessary birth documentation, the suspect failed to return the child to the maternity ward.
CCTV footage later showed the suspect leaving the immunisation unit and deliberately taking a different route instead of returning to the ward before disappearing with the baby.
Walter Uryek-Wun, the Principal Hospital Administrator at Gulu Regional Referral Hospital, said the baby’s disappearance was reported to hospital management at around 4:00 p.m. by the maternity ward in-charge, triggering an immediate investigation. He said investigators quickly reviewed CCTV footage, which provided clear images of the suspect. The hospital subsequently circulated the images to the public, leading to a breakthrough.
“The CCTV footage gave us a clear picture of the suspect, and we immediately shared the images widely. On the morning of July 28 at about 10:00 a.m., we received a call from Laguti Sub-county in Pader District informing us that the suspect had been intercepted by members of the community. They had taken both the suspect and the baby to Laguti Police Post,” Uryek-Wun told Uganda Radio Network.
The baby was later reunited with his mother but was rushed for urgent medical treatment after being found in poor health, while the suspect was arrested and is currently being held at Gulu Central Police Station. Although the motive behind the alleged child theft remains under investigation, Uryek-Wun said the circumstances suggest the act may have been carefully planned.
He praised the vigilance of members of the public, noting that the successful recovery demonstrated the importance of surveillance technology and community cooperation in fighting crime. Uryek-Wun also urged mothers to remain cautious while in maternity wards and avoid entrusting their newborns to strangers.
“We have learnt important lessons from this incident. We are going to strengthen monitoring and sensitisation in the maternity ward to ensure that such an incident does not happen again. Mothers should never hand over their babies to people they do not know,” he said. Police have since opened a case of child theft against the suspect.
The recovery is the latest example of Gulu Regional Referral Hospital’s expanded CCTV surveillance system assisting criminal investigations.
In February this year, hospital CCTV footage also helped investigators identify and arrest a suspect accused of stealing one of the hospital’s official vehicles. The suspect, an employee of the USAID Uganda Health Activity (USAID-UHA) at the time, was tracked through surveillance footage, arrested, and later allegedly confessed to stealing the vehicle and selling it for 45 million Shillings in neighbouring Kenya-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
