Benin: a wife fakes an abduction to extort 7 million from her husband.

According to the facts as presented at the trial and reported by Banouto, the young woman explained that she secretly took 7 million from her husband’s safe, a merchant who had gone to Nigeria for a few days on business. The stolen money was intended for the purchase and resale of goods.

Unfortunately for her, the business operation turned disastrous when her supposed suppliers turned out to be professional scammers who refused to pay her, leaving her with no cash. Panic-stricken by a call from her husband notifying her of his imminent return from his business trip to Nigeria, the accused found herself in a tight spot.

Driven by the sole objective of finding a way to put the money back before the theft was discovered, she then devised a far-fetched scheme to cover her tracks and try to justify her absence.

To execute her plan, she left the marital home in Porto-Novo to seek refuge at her older sister’s house in Illara, in the Kétou municipality, where the different scenarios of the scam were crafted.

To appeal to her husband’s emotions and push him to urgently release funds, the young woman took the scheme further by having herself photographed in the bush, enlisting the help of a motorcycle taxi driver to press the shutter. She then sent the picture to her husband from an unknown phone number to bolster the narrative of a fake abduction by mysterious kidnappers.

Convinced of the mortal danger facing his wife, the husband immediately fell for the bait by sending an initial sum of 300,000 CFA francs to the supposed kidnappers to save his wife. He then alerted the police. The efforts led to the arrest of the kidnappers, who turned out to be his own wife and her sister.

Despite the seriousness of this manipulation, the deceived husband showed remarkable leniency during his testimony by categorically refusing to join the civil suit. Stating that all he desired was the return of his wife to their children, he expressly gave up claiming reimbursement of the 300,000 CFA francs from the fake ransom and implored the magistrates to be lenient so that she could return to take care of their kids.

Following these poignant testimonies, the court ordered the case to be adjourned until Monday, July 20, 2026, when the public prosecutor will make its official requisitions.