Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II has received artefacts worth £2.5 million from President Muhammadu Buhari, 125 years after they were looted by British troops during the invasion of Benin Kingdom.
The returned artefacts, comprising a cockerel (okpa) and an Oba head (Uhunwun Elao), were repatriated from Cambridge University, Jesus College, and University of Aberdeen, Scotland, respectively.
They were handed over to the monarch by the Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Mr Tunji Ishola, on behalf of the President.
About 10,000 artefacts were said to have been looted from the Benin Kingdom in 1879 and held in different parts of the world, especially Europe.
While receiving the cultural items, Oba Ewuare II said the bronzes were more than mere art, but were mostly of religious significance, adding that the two artefacts would be returned to where they rightly belong.
The Oba, in his address read by his younger brother, Prince Aghatise Erediauwa, said there was a calculated plan to attack Benin for its territorial dominance and treasures.
This, he said, resulted in the destruction of a civilisation which equalled or even surpassed that of the aggressors.
He said, “It was thought that the kingdom, totally decimated and in ruins in the aftermath of the war, would not rise again but by the grace of God and the ancestors, the kingdom is still standing. The current conversation is about restitution and that the international scholars and most museums now agree that keeping stolen items is immoral and illegal.”
While thanking the President and others who facilitated the return of the artefacts, he called on genuine collaborators to join in the push for the repatriation of others.
The Benin monarch, however, appealed to those genuinely interested in the cause to join the kingdom in the interest of peace, tranquility and the substance of its cultural heritage.
Earlier, Ishola said he was directed by the President to formally hand over the artefacts to the Oba, emphasising that the items were worth £2.5 million.
He added, “I want to thank the British government for preserving the artefacts to still be in the same form they were when they were taken in 1897.”
