Nigerians desperate to travel abroad and who eventually become stranded in Libya are among those being currently sold as slaves in the war-torn country, according to a special report by CNN.

“One of the unidentified men being sold in the grainy cell phone video obtained by CNN is Nigerian. He appears to be in his twenties and is wearing a pale shirt and sweatpants.”

He has been offered up for sale as one of a group of “big strong boys for farm work,” according to the auctioneer, who remains off camera. Only his hand – resting proprietorially on the man’s shoulder – is visible in the brief clip,” the CNN report published on Tuesday said.

The report disclosed that some of the slaves were being sold for as little as $400. The business continues to boom despite the fact that slavery remains abolished worldwide.

Another part of the report said: “After seeing footage of this slave auction, CNN worked to verify its authenticity and traveled to Libya to investigate further.

“Carrying concealed cameras into a property outside the capital of Tripoli last month, we witness a dozen people go “under the hammer” in the space of six or seven minutes.

“Does anybody need a digger? This is a digger, a big strong man, he’ll dig,” the salesman, dressed in camouflage gear, says. “What am I bid, what am I bid?”

“Buyers raise their hands as the price rises, “500, 550, 600, 650 ...” Within minutes it is all over and the men, utterly resigned to their fate, are being handed over to their new “masters.”

“After the auction, we met two of the men who had been sold. They were so traumatised by what they’d been through that they could not speak, and so scared that they were suspicious of everyone they met.”

CNN noted that “the auctions take place in a seemingly normal town in Libya filled with people leading regular lives. Children play in the street; people go to work, talk to friends and cook dinners for their families.”

It quoted Mohammed Abdiker, the director of operation and emergencies for the International Organization for Migration, as saying in a statement after returning from Tripoli in April: “The situation is dire. Some reports are truly horrifying and the latest reports of ‘slave markets’ for migrants can be added to a long list of outrages.”

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