Namibe — A truck coming from the district of Chibia, Huíla Province, transporting 54 children aged between 8 and 10 without the authorization of parents, was intercepted Wednesday by police officers at the Namibe City/Lucira locality route.

According to a source from the National Police who provided the information to ANGOP, the children were inside the truck that was covered with canvas, a fact that aroused the suspicion of officers on duty.

One of the children informed that they left Chibia to collect tomatoes at a farm situated in Lucira commune and each one paid 1.500 kwanzas for a ticket.

The children did not know where they would work, being informed that they would receive only 4000 kwanzas salary each.

Mario Joseph, the driver of the lorry, confirmed that he had carried only the children, but knew little of the person whorecruited the children.

The case was handed over to the police authorities of Namibe for investigation, while the children are under the care of the National Children Institute (INAC) in Namibe.

According to the chief of the INAC in Namibe, Mario Tchova, the phenomenon is not new, as there are information and data of children taken from the interior of the country, particularly the southern Huila Province, to work on farms along the river valleys of Bero and Giraul, in the outskirts of Namibe Province.