The Bio Guéra Monument

Dominating the entrance roundabout of Cotonou's Cardinal Bernardin Gantin International Airport, the Bio Guéra equestrian monument offers a striking welcome to arriving travelers. Unveiled in August 2022, this 10-meter bronze sculpture honors Gbaasi N'Guerra, a noble Wasangari prince born in 1856 in Borgou, revered nationally as Bio Guéra. A towering figure of anti-colonial resistance, Bio Guéra led the formidable 1916 Baatonu and Peul uprising in northern Benin against forced labor and military conscription. Depicted atop his rearing stallion with traditional quiver and lance poised in motion, the sculpture radiates kinetic power. The monument honors the equestrian chivalry heritage of northern Benin while celebrating national cohesion, binding the warrior traditions of the Wasangari north with southern resistance history.