Looted Benin Bronzes
Amid His Royal Majesty, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare II, Ogidigan’s call for the Federal Government to temporarily take custody of the 1,130 stolen Benin artefacts in Germany after they are repatriated from Europe, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has expressed government’s determination to take possession of the artefacts. He disclosed this at a media briefing in Lagos yesterday.
The Benin Palace and the Edo State government have been at loggerheads over where the artefacts will be housed. While the palace wants the artefacts kept in the Benin Royal Museum, which will be built within the palace, the state government wants the items preserved in the proposed Edo Museum of West African Arts (EMOWAA).
FG to take possession of repatriated Benin artefacts
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FG To Take Possession Of Returning Benin Bronzes – Lai Mohammed
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FG sets 2022 deadline for return of all looted Bini bronze
Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja and Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City
As the nation awaits the return of hundreds of artefacts looted from the Bini Kingdom in 1897 from Germany, the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, yesterday alleged that some unscrupulous people were moving to hand over the artefacts to unauthorised private entities or third parties and that it would be resisted.
This is coming on the heels of the August 2022 deadline set by the federal government for the German government to ensure full return of hundreds of artefacts looted from the Bini Kingdom in 1897.
The Nigerian Government has informed the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the 1,130 Benin Bronze artefacts looted from the Bini Kingdom in 1897 must be returned in a year, under a proposed deal for the full return of the country’s artefacts from Germany.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, during a round-table with German Museum Directors and government officials in Berlin, Germany.
Lai Mohammed also added that the agreement for the repatriation of the Benin Bronzes from Germany must be signed by December 2021.
”For us, the most important issue in the road map is the signing of the agreement and the date of return. We won’t move forward if we don’t have a clear date on signing and return. Full return should be completed in a year’s time, not beyond August 2022,” he told participants at the round-table.