157 children rescued from trafficking ring

More than 150 children -- some as young as 11 -- were among 220 people rescued from sex and labor trafficking rings in West Africa, Interpol said. Most of the victims were beaten, subjected to abuses and told they would never see their families again by their traffickers, said Interpol. They came from West African countries including the Republic of Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, and Togo. Local police working with Interpol rescued some of the victims from places where they were forced to become sex workers, and the majority were working as servants in markets in both countries. Forty-seven people were arrested following the raid, the agency said. The months-long operation begun in 2018 and involved local law enforcement officers and anti-trafficking agencies in Republic of Benin and Nigeria --- countries identified as hotspots for child labor trafficking, it added.