Hundreds of young children are being sold and “trafficked” to Britain from Africa to be exploited as modern-day slaves.
The illicit trade in children – sold by their parents, some while still babies, to criminal gangs and people traffickers – has been uncovered by a Sunday Telegraph investigation.
An undercover reporter was offered several children for sale by their parents in Nigeria: two boys ages 3 and 5 for £5,000, or £2,500 for one, and a 10-month-old baby for £2,000. Teenage girls – including some still pregnant – were willing to sell their babies for less than £1,000.
One international trafficker, tracked down in Lagos, claimed to be buying up to 500 children a year.
Impoverished African parents are being lured by the traffickers’ promises of “a better life” for their children, thousands of miles away in cities including London, Birmingham and Manchester.
