Mr. Ogougnidé BABALOLA, great grand-son of LAGOUNAN, Ketou, Benin Mr. Ogougnidé is a peasant and the guardian of the Akaba Idena (the magic door) of the former fortified entrance to the old Ketou Kingdom.

According to him, his great great grandfather Lagounan was “abducted and deported by the Portuguese to Bahia”. “Only his name and the memory of these raids remain as a souvenir”. A testimony from the royal records states that Lagounan was deported during the destruction of the city of Ketou in 1883, by the troops of Glele, King of Dahomey (1858-1889). This story is consistent with the politics of slavery the Kingdom of Dahomey led, as early as the XVIIth century, when it organized and built its wealth on the trade of war prisoners, who were sold to European traffickers. Ketou, Benin