In Benin, the former head of the immigration services has been sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined five million CFA francs for abuse of office by the Economic Offenses Repression Court. In the same case, the secretary of the former director of emigration and immigration Brigitte Agbo, was sentenced to 5 years in prison.

The case broke in mid-December last year when six Cameroonians holding Beninese passports were arrested at the airport on their way to Ecuador, South America. 

Divisional commissioner Florent Agbo was accused of being complicit in the issuance of Beninese passports to foreigners alongside seven other officials. They were subsequently detained and charged with forgery.

During the case, one of the lawyers for the former director of immigration insisted that his client was innocent.

The six Cameroonians, who were in possession of the Beninese passports, were also sentenced to three years in prison. They were deported and will serve their sentences in their home country. They have also been banned from entering Benin for ten years.