Benin detains 10 people in child trafficking probe

Benin has detained 10 people on suspicions of child-trafficking just weeks after a group in neighbouring Niger was held for links to a “baby factory” ring, police sources said on Tuesday. While it was not immediately clear if there was a connection between the two cases, the latest detentions point to the persistence of human trafficking across West Africa. “There have been around 10 people detained in the civil prison since last week,” said Ghislaine Bokovo, director of the Benin police force’s central office for child protection. Martial Degbessou, from the Porto-Novo police division, said people operating in trafficking networks often purported to be holding children on behalf of a nongovernmental organisation.