Police in Nigeria have rescued an 11-year-old girl from a child trafficking situation, with a suspect at the center of the case telling investigators she paid ₦4 million to "adopt" the child.
The word "adopt" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. Authorities are treating the transaction as trafficking, not a legitimate adoption, and the suspect is now in custody while the investigation continues.
Cases like this one put a sharp light on how trafficking networks operate in plain sight, dressed up in the language of family and care. The ₦4 million price tag alone tells you how organized and transactional this trade has become.
What happens to this little girl next, and whether the full network behind her case gets dismantled, are the questions worth watching.
Originally published by Premium Times.