A young, resilient Ghanaian woman, Karen Baaba Sam, has finally broken her silence on years of physical, verbal, and emotional abuse she suffered at the hands of her ex-partner, Nana Kwadwo Adjei.
In a chilling account, she revealed the harrowing experiences that began in 2016 and culminated in a bitter custody battle over their daughter.
According to Karen, she met Nana Adjei in 2016, where he initially played the role of a protective figure in her life.
“As time went on, he expressed his interest in starting a relationship with the intent of marriage. In 2018, I fell pregnant with our daughter, Ohemaa. He was really excited about this, as his kids from previous relationships lived with their moms in different countries, with the exception of his second son, who moved to Ghana to live with us but later went back to live with his mom after his dad physically assaulted him.”
She further narrated that the once-blossoming relationship took a dark turn after she became pregnant with their daughter, Ohemaa, in 2018.
“Everything seemed to be going well until sometime in December 2018 when he returned home drunk from a night out. He got angry because I asked where he was coming from at that time of the night. He slapped me and repeatedly kicked parts of my body, including my stomach. I was more scared for my unborn child and did everything I could to protect her from his kicks. Thankfully, I was able to get hold of my phone and call my friend Leeroy, who arrived quickly to save me and resolve the issue. He apologized and blamed the alcohol for his reaction.”
Over the years, Karen endured repeated physical assaults, leaving her with visible injuries, including black eyes and a swollen face. Despite a report filed by her brother at the East Legon Police Station, no action was taken against Nana, who allegedly bragged about his influence over the police.
“The final straw was an incident that happened in 2024. I saw him in a restaurant with a female who I later found out to be his girlfriend. He allowed this lady to humiliate me in public when I tried to go back home with him in his car. Without uttering a word, I got out of the car, and he drove off with the lady, only to get home and be met with another physical attack because he claimed I didn’t get home before him.
He started hitting me in the living room and proceeded to follow me to our daughter’s room, disregarding the effect it would have on her, and witnessing constant attacks on her mother. At the time, we had two family friends visiting from Germany who received their fair share of the beatings when they tried to stop him. He also kicked our daughter, who fell and started crying.”
Nana’s promises to change proved empty, as he continued to display controlling and abusive behaviour. Matters worsened when Karen decided to officially end their relationship in December 2023. Nana responded with threats and demanded the return of all items he had gifted her, including their daughter’s school car.
“A couple of days after that, he called me one morning to return a car he bought for me. I told him to pass by and pick it up, which he did. He also threatened to throw me out of the house I lived in with our daughter and my niece. To avoid further abuse and assaults, I vacated the house and moved into my own space. He was aware of the whole moving process, and he even said that because his daughter was there, he could stop by anytime.”
Karen Baaba Sam moved to her own residence in February 2024 but faced a traumatic armed robbery on her first night there.
“I moved into my house in February, only to be robbed at gunpoint of all my valuables on my very first night at the new place by some assailants who are yet to be apprehended. I was particularly traumatized by this robbery and what I was subjected to, and this got worse when Nana Adjei demanded shortly after the robbery that I return a piece of necklace he had gifted me in the past, coincidentally the only valuable the robber did not take when I was attacked. I was assigned a police officer to protect me at my residence because the authorities believed the attack was perpetrated by someone close to me who was out to harm me.”
After this, I decided to cut or limit contact with him to the barest minimum, necessitated only by the welfare and proper upbringing of our daughter. A few weeks later, he requested that our daughter spend two weeks of her school holidays with him, which I agreed to. He picked her up after school, and I later went by to drop off a few of her belongings and my niece so she could assist him in taking care of her. A few days later, he accused me of being at a restaurant with a friend of mine. I told him I did not owe him any explanation since he had moved on with multiple women. Nana Adjei made it clear he was not happy about it because he hadn’t informed his friends that we were no longer together and said I should not let the public know.”
“He also proceeded to repeatedly call to verbally abuse me. He even told me I would die soon, like how his godson’s wife died recently. He swore on his life to avenge my leaving him and also said I would never see our daughter ever again. I didn’t take the threats lightly, so I contacted his brother to inform him and also plead with him to bring the child and my niece.”
The custody battle took a dramatic turn when Nana refused to return their daughter after a visit. Karen’s swift actions and complaints to authorities led to an intervention at the airport, preventing Nana from leaving with the child.
After six weeks of separation, Karen was reunited with her daughter, who had been misled to believe she was travelling to Dubai to see her mother.
“After almost six weeks of begging and pleading to allow me to see my daughter, I received a call from his brother informing me that Nana Adjei was ready to return her in exchange for her passport. I agreed to it because the welfare and safety of my child is more important than anything else. We agreed to meet at Fiesta Royale on a Tuesday afternoon to make the exchange. He arrived with his brother without the child to meet my aunt and me. After some back and forth, he requested that my aunt follow him to his residence to pick up our daughter and my niece. However, upon getting there, he forcibly snatched the passport from the old lady’s hands, kicked her out, and swore to kill me for ending the relationship unless I returned.”
“I made frantic efforts and lodged various complaints that caused investigations leading to him being stopped and disembarked from an outbound aircraft. After further investigations, my daughter was returned to me around 2 a.m. after six weeks of not seeing her. She informed me that her dad told her they were going to Dubai to see Mummy. He told the officers they were going on a two-day trip, but my daughter was travelling with three suitcases.”
Karen in her narration also sheds light on the loopholes in Ghana’s justice system and raises critical questions about the protection of women and children in custody disputes.
She said that despite an initial court order by a Circuit Court granting her protective custody of her child, another ruling, this time by a lower District Court, allowed her ex-partner to retain custody.
“The court granted him custody without considering the emotional and physical toll on my daughter. She was crying every time I returned her to him and begged me to let her stay. My ex would always leave her with the teenage daughter of his friend, who assumed the role of the mother of our 4-year-old. A 16-year-old who could barely take care of herself.
Everyone witnessed how much weight my daughter lost during the period she was with her father. Due to this and many other concerns, I called on some family and friends to beg him to let me have access to my daughter.”
“The female judge threw out my case, claiming she didn’t have the jurisdiction to sit on such cases. She also made orders for my ex to keep the child until the final determination of the court. According to her, my daughter already lives with her dad, and it would cause her trauma to remove her from there. She made orders that allowed my daughter to see her mom 4 days out of 31 days in a month. This is a child who had only lived with him for 6 weeks against her will. Upon advice from my lawyers, I refiled my case in the Circuit Court (DOVVSU), seeking protective orders for my daughter and me. However, the case at the District Court was very unfair to me and always seemed to do the bidding of my ex,” Karen lamented.
She again recounted how her ex-partner allegedly resorted to threats and blackmail to force her compliance. According to her, he threatened to publish false stories about her in newspapers and used media platforms to smear her reputation.
“He even had a radio show dedicated to humiliating me, claiming I was dating a top security official. When confronted, he denied involvement, but evidence later revealed his orchestration,” Karen disclosed.
The threats reportedly escalated after the Circuit Court issued a restraining order against Adjei. Karen claims he threatened her and boasted about accessing her private information, including her travel history and call records, through contacts in law enforcement and telecommunication companies.
“He then proceeded to show me my travel history, which he fraudulently obtained from some personnel of the Immigration/BNI. He also showed my call records, which he obtained from Telecel, and boasted that he could get any information he wanted on me.”
Things took a darker turn when, armed with a warrant, Adjei and a group of armed men forcibly entered Karen’s home. The raid allegedly involved the harassment of her family members, including an attempt to arrest her mother. Adjei then declared Karen wanted, placing a bounty on her head and circulating her photos online.
“My ex stormed into my house with over 10 armed men and a blogger to harass my mother and my cousin, who were present at the time. He ransacked the bedrooms and tried to arrest my mother. In the subsequent days, he declared me wanted by placing a bounty on my head and published my photos on the front page of various newspapers in the country. He also paid numerous bloggers to circulate my pictures on various social media platforms in a bid to bully me into returning the child to him and to embarrass me, just as he had threatened months ago.”
She claims to have filed numerous complaints with authorities, including the Inspector General of Police (IGP) but alleges that her ex-partner’s influence has hindered justice.
“For seven years, I’ve endured emotional, physical, and financial abuse. I left the relationship to create a safe, happy space for my daughter, but our lives remain in danger. I am beginning to believe no one can control him,” Karen said.
She hopes that by speaking out, her story will prompt action and protect others in similar situations.
“I refuse to be silenced. I will continue to fight for my daughter and ensure she grows up in a safe and loving environment,” Karen vowed.
In her parting words:
“Let me emphasize that Kwadwo Adjei is an ex-partner, and I chose to end my relationship with him. What you see and read about in the media is a man of influence and money who, in his desperation to show me where power lies, marshals the justice delivery system at his beck and call to file multiple suits against me and obtain orders from lower courts to override orders from higher courts.”
“What you see and read about is a man of power, influence, and money who can commandeer members of the Ghana Police Service to raid my house and my friend’s house in the name of enforcing a bogus court order to retrieve our child, whom I have cared for since birth. What you see and read about is Kwadwo Adjei—simply, an abuser.”
“I have reached out to the relevant institutions for help, but for anyone in my situation, the wheels of justice appear almost motionless. For an ordinary woman and mother like me, I am desperate. I feel extremely threatened and fear for my life,” she lamented.
