A Nigerian maid was advertised for sale with a price tag of $1,000 on a Facebook page which specialises in trading bric-a-brac in the Middle East.
The 30-year-old woman was marketed as “very active and very clean” with “new legal documents”, in a post which appeared on the “Buy and Sell in Lebanon” account, prompting widespread outrage.
A man thought to be responsible for the advert, Wael Jerro, has been arrested for possible human trafficking crimes, police in Lebanon said. The post was deleted after a wave of protests.
Adverts for apple-flavoured shisha tobacco and car tyres appeared above and below the post featuring the woman’s identity document, which named her as Peace Busari and pictured her wearing a red top.
Marie-Claude Najm, Lebanon’s justice minister, said the case represented a “blatant violation of human dignity”.