Debt-laden parents in the south Nigerian region of Obanliku have been selling their daughters to older men since long before the internet even existed. Now, with the help of their tech-savvy sons, often-illiterate tribesmen have been listing their young daughters on Facebook to be sold into de facto slavery in what is known as "money marriage."
As the Daily Beast's Philip Obaji Jr. reports, girls as young as 10 years old (and by other accounts, age five) in the 17-village-strong Becheve community are often referred to as "money wives," or "money women," and are sold in exchange for food, livestock, cash, or to settle debts
My father knew nothing about Facebook until my elder brother bought him a smartphone and convinced him to join Facebook and post our photographs whenever he likes," said 16-year-old Monica, one of two sisters who were sold to men over the social media platform. "He'll buy new clothes and force me and my sisters to put them on before taking photographs of us."
"It is young people who convince old men to look for wives on Facebook," said Monica - a former child bride who ran away from her husband to live with friends less than a year after getting married. "The man I married said his oldest son showed him my photo on Facebook and directed him to my father."
It's not just Nigeria either - last November, Facebook took heat for posts discussing the sale of a 16-year-old South Sudanese girl who was sold for 530 cows, three Land Cruiser V8 cars and $10,000 - after a bidding war broke out between five men, including senior officials in the South Sudanese government.