Police in Benin have arrested four men, two from Benin, two from Nigeria, for trafficking 27 children from Benin and Nigeria to Togo, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana.

The children, who range in age from six to 12 years old, were rescued in July at the Togo border. According to the children, their parents believed the traffickers' promises that they would be sent to well-paid jobs.

Tens of thousands of children are trafficked each year in West and Central Africa. They are forced to work long hours as domestic servants, in fishing, agriculture, on market stalls and into prostitution and are denied their rights to education, rest and play.

Early last month, Benin police rescued eight Togolese girls aged between eight and 12 who were trafficked to Benin to work as domestics. The trafficker was arrested and the children returned to authorities in Togo.

It is vital that governments in Africa develop anti-trafficking laws to deter and punish traffickers, implement measures that protect children from this abuse and provide the necessary support to resettle the children safely in their own communities.

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