PHOTO: School girl, victim of child trafficking
On Tuesday, November 23, 2021, an uncle of a 9-year -ld girl identified as Siakor Kamara, age 23, allegedly kidnapped his eldest brother’s daughter during her school’s recess period, says a report from Liberia’s western Grand Cape Mount County.
Suspect Kamara, who has been arrested and detained by the national Police, is said to have made the attempt after the kid had gone to check on her grandmother at home, but she didn’t find grandmother at home.
While on her way back to campus, she reportedly met her Uncle along the way and held held her hand and told her that he was carrying her to her mother in another area, VAAMA Town on grounds that her mother asked him to carry her.
Uncle Siakor Kamara
But she disputed his story, saying that it was false, adding that if her mother needed her, she would inform her grandmother. Angry by the girl’s reaction, her uncle then allegedly slapped her mouth.
The little girl is a K- 2 student at the Gbesseh Elementary and Junior High School in Gbesseh Town, Tewor District and the incident comes amid the Liberian government’s recent efforts to crack down on human trafficking.
Labor Minister, Cllr. Charles Gibson last month spoke of gains and successes being made in the fight against human trafficking in Liberia.
Cllr. Gibson said that most of the financial supports coming from the government to the taskforce are personally ordered by the President to enhance the working of the taskforce.
According to the little girl, when she was on her way back to campus, her uncle took another road with her and told her to stand there. And after a while, she couldn’t see her uncle, so she decided to go back on her campus when she saw her uncle coming with motorbike to take her to an unknown location.
But he informed the child that the road he took was not the road they earlier took.
The motorbike took off and made a stop in the town of Tienii in Grand Cape Mount County, after which her uncle took her onboard a car that carried them to Daniel Town along the Kinjor road on the Babangida highways that leads to the Mano River bridge on the Liberia-Sierra Leone border.
They arrived on a market day and the 9-year-old girl explained to Police investigator that she was placed in a house, with her uncle instructing her to lie on a bench in the house while he went out to make contact for her sail.
Explaining her ordeal, she told police investigators that her uncle then contacted a man and told him that he has goods to sell and the man asked him which goods. Then he replied that he had human being but he did not get favourable response from the man, who strongly refused to buy human being.
It was at that juncture that immediately informed community dwellers about what was happening, prompting the arrest of the alleged perpetrator, who was subsequently handed over to the Liberia National police for further investigation.
Uncle’s reason for attempting to sell girl
During police investigation last Tuesday at the Tienii Police station, the uncle of the 9-year-old girl admitted attempting to sell his own niece.
But he said he was doing the transaction because he has no means to survive, saying that family members have abandoned him and that he has no money to sustain himself, etc.
Meanwhile, family members of the victim have now decided to relocate the child, and the perpetrator was has been duly charged with kidnapping, which is a felony of the first degree and forwarded to court for prosecution. Report by Garmah Never Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com