Crime in Benin
Encyclopedia
Street robbery
is a significant problem in Cotonou. Robbery and mugging occur along the Boulevard de France (the beach road by the Marina and Novotel Hotels) and on the beaches near hotels frequented by international visitors. Most of the reported incidents involve the use of force, often by armed persons, with occasional minor injury to the victim. Even in daylight hours, foreigners on the beach near Cotonou are frequent victims of robberies. There has been a continued increase in the number of robberies and carjacking
incidents after dark, both within metropolitan Cotonou and on highways and rural roads outside of major metropolitan areas. Overland travel to Nigeria
is dangerous near the Benin/Nigeria border due to unofficial checkpoints and highway banditry
. There is a high rate of credit card and automated teller machine (ATM) fraud, largely targeting foreigners.
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
is a significant problem in Cotonou. Robbery and mugging occur along the Boulevard de France (the beach road by the Marina and Novotel Hotels) and on the beaches near hotels frequented by international visitors. Most of the reported incidents involve the use of force, often by armed persons, with occasional minor injury to the victim. Even in daylight hours, foreigners on the beach near Cotonou are frequent victims of robberies. There has been a continued increase in the number of robberies and carjacking
Carjacking
Carjacking is a form of hijacking, where the crime is of stealing a motor vehicle and so also armed assault when the vehicle is occupied. Historically, such as in the rash of semi-trailer truck hijackings during the 1960s, the general term hijacking was used for that type of vehicle abduction,...
incidents after dark, both within metropolitan Cotonou and on highways and rural roads outside of major metropolitan areas. Overland travel to Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
is dangerous near the Benin/Nigeria border due to unofficial checkpoints and highway banditry
Banditry
Banditry refers to the life and practice of bandits which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as "one who is proscribed or outlawed; hence, a lawless desperate marauder, a brigand: usually applied to members of the organized gangs which infest the mountainous districts of Italy, Sicily, Spain,...
. There is a high rate of credit card and automated teller machine (ATM) fraud, largely targeting foreigners.