The Liberia National Police has arrested, charged and sent to court a 29-year old Sierra Leonean national for allegedly attempting to sell his 10-year-old son.
Speaking to investigators of the LNP and the Anti-Human Trafficking Taskforce of Liberia in the new established Trafficking In-Persons Unit at the Headquarters of the LNP, Mr. Mohammed Jalloh Massaquoi said he came to Liberia along with his son to have him sold to enable him pay for a motorbike belonging to a friend that got stolen from him.
Mr. Massaquoi who put the cost of the motorbike at 11-Millons Leones, said he has paid an amount of One Million Leones (1M) with the balance of Ten millions to be paid. He said that he was informed by some friends in his home Country that in Liberia there were people looking for human beings to buy.
He maintained that upon hearing that, he immediately embarked on a travel to Liberia to sell the little boy to generate the balance Ten Millions Leones to enable him pay for the motorcycle.
Massaquoi added that upon his arrival in Liberia with his son on December 16, 2021, they went to a relative in Cotton-Tree, Margibi County where he met one Mr. Momo Kamara who promised to help him find a buyer for his son.
He said that Momo Kamara advised him not to refer to the boy as human being, but rather as chicken. When asked as to what is the cost of the child by Mr. Kamara, Massaquoi said that he is not familiar with the Liberian Dollars to United States Dollars exchange rate and therefore he could not price the boy. He said that he asked Mr. Kamara to spearhead the negotiation that will be profitable to the both of them.
Mr. Massaquoi was arrested Thursday, December 30, 2021 when he and Momo Kamara were awaiting the buyer at a drinking spot in Cotton Tree by Officers of the Liberia National Police.
Also speaking, the head of the TIP Unit of the Liberia National Police (LNP), Chief Inspector of Police, Joseph B. Washington said that Mr. Massaquoi was arrested through the network of the LNP in Margibi County.
The child is said be currently in the care of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection.
It can be recalled that Labour Minister, Cllr. Charles H. Gibson, recently emphasized the urgent need for Countries in the Mano River Union (MRU) sub-region to consolidate efforts and be more proactive in the fight against Human Trafficking, which he has described as a global menace.
Minister Gibson was speaking when he met and held bilateral talks with top level Sierra Leonean government officials in Freetown.
Cllr. Gibson assured his counterparts that President George Weah attaches urgency to stopping Human Trafficking, and that the President is interested in a collaboration that will see MRU countries working together to clampdown on all forms of trans-national crimes, with emphasis on human trafficking.