The Oba of Benin, His Royal Majesty Oba Ewuare II, has formally received 18 looted Benin artefacts repatriated from Switzerland after about 125 years, declaring that the priceless cultural objects are symbols of governance, spirituality and the identity of the Edo people, not mere curiosities.
Receiving the delegation led by the Director-General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) on Thursday, Mr Olugbile Holloway, at his palace in Benin, the monarch said the artefacts were forcefully taken during the 1897 British punitive expedition against the Benin Kingdom and deserved to be returned to their rightful home.
Oba Ewuare expressed appreciation to the Swiss government, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Governor Monday Okpebholo, the NCMM and other stakeholders for facilitating the restitution, describing the return as another milestone in the quest to restore Benin’s cultural heritage.
The monarch disclosed that more than 150 original Benin artefacts had been returned since his ascension to the throne, while tracing the restitution campaign to the reign of his grandfather, Oba Akenzua II, and commending successive efforts to reclaim the kingdom’s stolen treasures.
He, however, urged the German government to fulfil the 2022 agreement with Nigeria by completing arrangements for the return of over 1,000 Benin artworks, while calling on museums across the world still holding looted artefacts to correct what he described as a colonial injustice.
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Oba Ewuare also praised former President Muhammadu Buhari and President Tinubu for supporting Nigeria’s cultural sovereignty, just as he commended the Edo State Government, the State House of Assembly and the NCMM for their commitment to the repatriation process.
Earlier, NCMM Director-General, Mr Holloway, lauded the Swiss authorities for their transparency and cooperation throughout the restitution process, assuring the Oba that the commission would continue to justify the confidence reposed in it.
He said the 18 artefacts brought back marked another fulfilment of the commission’s commitment to restoring Benin’s heritage.
Also speaking, Switzerland’s Consul-General in Nigeria, Mrs Conny Camenzind, described the repatriation as a historic milestone in relations between both countries, while a Swiss museum director, Prof. Alice Hertzog, and Edo State House of Assembly Speaker, Blessing Agbebaku, hailed the return as a homecoming, pledging sustained collaboration to recover more Benin treasures from across the world.
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