The property portfolio consists of ten prisons in 2016:

• Cotonou,
• Porto-Novo,
• Ouidah, Abomey,
• Abomey-Calavi,
• Parakou,
• Lokossa,
• Natitingou,
• Kandi,
• Akpro-Missérété.

Half of these prisons were built during the colonial period, between the end of the 19th century and the 1950s.

Only the prisons of Akpro-Missérété and Abomey-Calavi were built to meet international standards (sport and leisure facilities, training and educational rooms, buildings with bedding, etc.).

Three child and adolescent safeguard centers are set up to house minors in difficult situations.

The number of custody cells is not published. The opening of 31 new police stations and advanced job postings, 15 gendarmerie brigades and the recruitment of 4,500 police officers between 2006 and 2016 was accompanied by the creation of new police custody cells. The FIACAT and ACAT-Benin denounced the detention conditions in these places in their 2015 alternative reports.

Gendarmes from the Ministry of National Defense who answer to ? the Ministry of Justice, Legislation and Human Rights (MJLDH) are responsible for administering the prisons.

The police custody cells and their staff depend on the Ministries of Defense and the Interior.

The supervisor / prisoner ratio is about one supervisor for every 70 prisoners.

The staff is predominantly male. The prisons of Cotonou and Akpro Missérété each have a supervisor.

A study on the security sector and gender in West Africa - completed in 2011- shows that Benin women account for 3. 25 % of the workforce of the gendarmerie (including prison officers).

On June 30, 2016, the Ministry of Family Affairs provided 17 social workers to the MJLDH to look after juvenile detainees. These staff members do not receive any specific training in this work..

As of 2016, prison officers received no specific training in dealing with prisoners.

Prisons do not have any means of transporting prisoners. Service providers lease vehicles at very high costs, which are not adapted to the mission.

Detainees take on numerous responsibilities. They are security guards, inmate search officers, visiting inspectors, tour guides. They may also be authorized by prison officers to carry out certain activities: selling hygiene products, fruits and vegetables, etc. Prisoners assigned to these tasks are chosen for their seniority, the trust-relationship they have with the officers and the power they have over other inmates.