Looted artefacts: FG asserts supremacy over Edo, Oba of Benin

The 1,130 Benin bronzes Germany plans to return to Nigeria in 2022 will not go to either the Edo State Government or the Benin Royal Palace.

When the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, announced the launch of a campaign for the return and restitution of Nigeria’s looted/smuggled artefacts in 2019, he would not have expected the massive windfall.

Mohammed had warned that the FG was coming after foreign countries keeping stolen artefacts from Nigeria using all available legal and diplomatic means. He explained that Nigeria was relying on UNESCO and ECOWAS Article 4 of the UNESCO 1970 Convention most nations subscribe to ensure all stolen items are returned to the country.

Almost two years after, it has been a gale of returns. In October 2020, The Netherlands returned a highly-valued 600-year-old Ife Terracotta. In March 2021, the University of Aberdeen in Scotland agreed to return a Benin Bronze from its collections. The FG also received a bronze piece from Mexico in April 2021. The University of Cambridge has also decided to return a disputed Benin artefact.

In October 2021, the Metropolitan Museum, New York, would repatriate two Benin bronzes and an exquisite Ife bronze head.

The most heart-warming repatriation is the 1,130 Benin bronzes that Germany has agreed to return to Nigeria in 2022. However, this most significant haul appears to be causing strife, with different groups claiming ownership of the treasures.

Trouble initially started between the Edo State Government and the Royal Benin Palace over who would keep the artefacts before a third party, Igun-Igbesamwan-Owina Descendants Cultural Movement of Europe and America, stepped in. A fourth, the Federal Government, has now become involved too.

The Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, fired the first salvo when he addressed a news briefing and stated that the artefacts were the palace’s property and not that of the state government. He also affirmed that a Benin Royal Museum built in the palace is the legitimate destination of the artefacts.

The Oba’s position was in reaction to the Edo State Government’s proposal to keep the artefacts believed to have been looted during the 1897 invasion in the Edo Museum of West African Arts.

Not long after, the Igun-Igbesamwan-Owina Descendants Cultural Movement of Europe and America stepped in by also claiming part of the artefacts. An open letter to Mohammed, signed by the body’s European and American presidents, ErahuyiIsokponwu and AdolorOviasu-Oreoghene, asked the Federal Government to, in the interim, keep all the looted artefacts until their true ownership status is affirmed.

This was the state of play until the Federal Government stepped in on Saturday, July 17, when the Minister addressed a press conference and affirmed that the Federal Government, not the Royal Benin Palace or the Edo State Government, would keep the Benin bronzes.

He said, “the Federal Government is aware of the widely-reported controversy on who will take possession of the Benin Bronzes when they are returned from Germany. Let me state clearly here that, in line with international best practices and the operative Conventions and laws, the return of the artefacts is being negotiated bilaterally between the national governments of Nigeria and Germany.

“Nigeria is the entity recognised by international law as the authority in control of antiquities originating from Nigeria. The relevant international Conventions treat heritage properties as properties belonging to the nation and not to individuals or subnational groups.

“For example, the 1970 UNESCO Convention, in its Article 1, defines cultural property as property specifically designated by that nation. This allows individual nations to determine what it regards as its cultural property. Nevertheless, the Nigerian state – through the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture and the National Commission for Museums and Monuments – has in working assiduously over the past years to repatriate our looted artefacts carried along with our important traditional institutions and state governments.”

Mohammed, who reiterated that the Federal Government would take ownership of the antiquities because it must do so in line with the extant laws, said it had always recognised the culture that produced the works.

He explained that this was why his Ministry and the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) had always involved the Edo State government and the Royal Benin Palace in discussions and negotiations that resulted in the impending return of the antiquities.

The Minister added that the Government was also working to repatriate more artefacts apart from the Benin bronzes. “We are also working on repatriating Ife Bronzes and Terracotta, Nok Terracotta, Owo Terracotta, the arts of the Benue River Valley, the Igbo Ukwu, the arts of Bida, the arts of Igala, Jukun etc.,” he said.

The Minister further disclosed that the Federal Government is pursuing a claim against a Belgian and that no matter how arduous the task, it would not relent. “We are currently before the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to it Countries of Origin or its Restitution in case of Illicit Appropriation (ICPRCP) in Paris, where we have instituted a claim against a Belgian who wanted to auction an Ife Bronze head valued at $5 million, at least. The London Metropolitan Police have seized this Ife Bronze antiquity, pending the decision on who the true owner is,” he said.

Beyond returning the artefacts, Nigeria will also get additional benefits from the Germans. “There will be archaeological training for Nigerians. The Nigerian side and the German side agreed to Nigeria’s proposal to use the repatriated artefacts and other works of art to inspire Nigeria’s Creative Industry towards realising its high potential. For this and other purposes, it was agreed that the Germans would facilitate the establishment of an academy in Nigeria.”

Reacting to concerns about the authenticity of the artefacts and their care, Director General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), Professor Abba Tijani, who accompanied the Minister, assured that there was no issue with that.

“We have archaeologists, curators and technical teams to authenticate the artefacts. They would do the authentication right there in Germany.”

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