Child Slave Ship Feared Adrift Off West Africa
April 16 -- Up and down the western coast of Africa, the hunt is on for a ship believed to be carrying as many as 250 children destined for slavery.
The ship was turned away from several African ports over the past three weeks, and has since disappeared.
Authorities say the crew is now desperate to unload their cargo without being caught. And one way to do that, they fear, is by dumping their human cargo into the sea.
The aging and decrepit Nigerian-registered vessel, MV Etirino, left Benin's capital, Cotonou, on March 30 with its suspected human cargo, bound for Libreville in oil-rich Gabon.
But it was turned away from Gabon, when authorities suspected the crew was planning to sell the children.
On Thursday, it tried to make port in Douala, Cameroon, but was also turned away.
Benin authorities expected the boat to return to Cotonou on Sunday, after making a round trip of more than 1,200 miles. But port officials say it has not been responding to calls and has not tried to make contact with Benin's authorities.
On the Edge
The apparently desperate situation has raised alarm bells locally and globally. Adam Zakaria, a child protection officer with UNICEF in Cotonou said he had received calls from reporters in Africa, Asia, Europe and Americas about the incident.
Although child slavery is a commonly recognized problem in the region, Zakaria said he had never heard of as many children being transported.
He was also worried because the children had been in the boat for such a long time. "Children are not supposed to live in a boat for two three weeks," he said. "That is not normal."
There were fears that the passengers may not have enough food or water. Aid workers told Reuters news service that police in Douala, Cameroon, the last people to see the ship, said some children on board were sick.
But that's not the worst that could happen to the children. Authorities have announced that the captain of the ship has a criminal record in Nigeria, raising fears that the children could be thrown overboard.
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