Travelogue

Snippets From ECOWAS Observation Mission In Benin Republic: A Reporter’s Diary (3)

‎Ebenezer Adurokiya, Reporting

IF you have been following my snippets from the ECOWAS Observation Mission that I was privileged to be part of early last month in Benin Republic, you would have read about the poser in my last publication. This has to do with whether Beninese take advantage of strangers or not. Truth be told, everyone does.

One of their major means of commercial transportation is the use of motorcycles. Unlike some climes where the wearing of a crash helmet appears to be a taboo, in Benin Republic, you either have and wear it or you ride no bike. In fact, at the point of purchasing a motorcycle, you are expected to buy, in addition, two crash helmets: one for the rider, the other for the passenger. So, all over the Republic, whether in Cotonou or Porto Novo, or elsewhere, you’re expected to wear your crash helmet.

Commercial motorcyclists in Cotonou. Behind is Barrister Wisdom Udo

Like in Kampala, Uganda, in my previous reports, adherence to traffic rules by the riders of commercial motorcycles was top-notch. They simply obey traffic lights.

ALSO READ: https://stonixnews.com/world-record-nonuplets-turn-five-prepare-for-school/

Invariably, when you are ignorant of the cost of transportation on a bike from one point to another, you could be cheated. Benin Republic’s CFA is of greater value than Naira. A distance of CFA 200 could cost you CFA 300 or more if you weren’t armed with the prior information of the exact fare. The same applies to cabs or taxies.

For instance, on Tuesday April 14, 2026, a day to our departure, five of us wanted to go chop at a popular market not far from Azalai Hotel. This was shortly after we had had our debriefing following the Sunday April 12 election with the ECOWAS Observation Mission authorities.

‎We got two cars to take us to the market (can’t remember the name now) and each of them demanded we pay CFA 5,000! So, the two cabs were to collect CFA 10,000 from the five of us! That’s about N24,404.13 all things being equal. The two drivers expected us to jump at it, but we declined. I don’t know if they thought we came to Benin Republic to mop up money from their bank vaults. As per Nigerians that we are, we quickly borrowed ourselves some native sense, and realized that it was way outrageous.

Snippets From ECOWAS Observation Mission in Benin Republic: A Reporter's Diary (3) — The reporter at the market in Cotonou

‎One of us swiftly engaged his phone and chatted with a bolt driver to come for us. And do you know how much took us to the market, eventually? Just about CFA 400! Mind you, I didn’t say CFA 4,000! Can you imagine the margin between CFA 10,000 and CFA 400? Nor be small scrape dem for scrape we head o. So, if you are not armed with a prior information about the price of anything, including accommodation, you could be fleeced.

READ ALSO: https://crimeschroniclers.com/2026/05/07/fct-police-neutralise-suspected-kidnap-kingpin-tsoho-after-gun-battle/

Earlier the previous day, April 13, 2026, after we returned from our various beats where we covered the presidential election, Barrister Udo had followed some colleagues to the market where he picked some quality ankara fabrics. He had returned to the hotel room elated with the items he had purchased for his beautiful wife. One of the ankara fabrics is packaged so alluringly in their cases that you’ll need one if you saw them. And guess what? He bought the six yards packaged fabric for CFA 20,000, that’s about N50,000. In spite of the cost, I had longed for one and this prompted our return to the market the following day April 14.

On getting there, obviously to another store, we found the same Ankara fabric that my colleague had bought for CFA 20,000 at just CFA 17,000! Eskelebebetiolebebeeeeeeee!!!!😇🫢

‎A similar experience happened at a particular fruit market in the heart of Cotonou when we arrived on Thursday April 9, 2026. Visibly beaten by hunger, Barrister Wisdom Udo, Mr Taiwo Oloruntobi, Dr Mrs Kaltume Kamselem and I headed to town and found ourselves in a beautiful modern fruit market. Any kind of fruit you can think of was available. A very neat market for that matter, we began to find it difficult on what to buy and how to buy it. Our major challenge was the language barrier. We stumbled on an Igbo lady, Oyinyechi, in a mini restaurant inside the market helping herself with a plate of rice. Pretty and vivacious Oyinyechi spoke English to us and from there, Taiwo and myself could get a plate of fried rice for CFA 500. Described as the costliest fruit market in Cotonou, a big bottle of water went for CFA 1,500! A pack of the big bottled water (six in number) is actually sold for CFA 2,000 outside the fruit market! Right there, even Oyinyechi could not save us from the daylight extortion.

Characteristic of your guy now, I engaged the Igbo lady in a quick chat. She relocated to Cotonou not too long and she’s absolutely enjoying the place, much more as she’s multilingual. Oyinyechi speaks English, French, and Igbo fluently, as well as some drops of Yoruba. According to her, she’s a hairdresser and spoke glowingly about the constant electricity across the nooks and crannies of the Benin Republic.