Liberia: Man Arrested In An Attempt To Sell His Son For A Motorbike

The Police in Liberia have arrested a 29 year old Sierra Leonean man and charged him with attempting to sell his 10 year old son. It was apparently a desperate bid to raise money to replace a stolen motorbike too. After his arrest, the man told investigating officers in the capital Monrovia, that he needed around $1,000 (£750) as the

bike which had belonged to his friend had been stolen from his home. He was told the only way to raise this much money quickly was to go to neighbouring Liberia to try and find a buyer for his son. Back home people had told him it would be easy to do that kind of deal too over the border. It was arranged through a middleman in

December. During negotiations, the boy was apparently referred to as a chicken but not a human being to avoid detection. Nonetheless, the police received a tip-off and the father was arrested as the buyer was reportedly on their way to also collect the boy from a town outside Monrovia. According to report, the child is currently in

the care of the gender ministry. Human trafficking is a major issue in West Africa. Children sold into modern slavery are not allowed to contact their families and are often made to work as domestic servants or labourers.