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The Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, has disowned two groups which he described as “impostors” fronting for the return of artifacts which the British looted from the palace in 1897.
This was contained in a statement jointly signed by the Secretary to the Benin Traditional Council (BTC), Frank Irabor, and the Secretary, Oba Ewuare II Foundation, Dennis Osaretin on Monday in Benin and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
The statement reads in part: “The individuals and persons who parade themselves as official representatives of the ‘Legacy Restoration Trust’ and ‘Legal Restoration Trust’ were neither known nor authorised by the Oba of Benin.”
Benin bronzes: With Germany set to return looted art, Nigerians want to see more countries do the same
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Berlin Decision On Benin Restitution: Germany On The Way To Restitution Of Looted African Artefacts
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LOS ANGELES â At least six sculptures, potentially as many as 19, stolen during an 1897 massacre by British colonists in Africa have been sitting quietly in two Los Angeles art museum collections for the past half-century.
That status is likely to change. Pressure has been building for longer than a decade for the return of thousands of objects looted from the Royal Palace in Benin City, located in what is southern Nigeria. Repatriation of Benin art is as essential as restitution for art looted during the Holocaust, which this theft resembles.
Britainâs invading imperial forces were after natural resources, especially the rubber and palm oil necessary for industrial expansion, when they targeted the palace. Mass murder at the seat of the Edo peoplesâ nonindustrial African kingdom, together with the cityâs virtual erasure, confiscation of its sacred relics and their triumphal display in Europeâs museums, carried with it a symbolic assertion of the superiorit
The Edo Museum of West Africa Art (EMOWAA) backed by the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration has gotten a major boost with German authorities committing to return the first of artefacts in 2022.
In a joint declaration, Germany’s Ministry of Culture, state ministers and museum directors committed to return Benin bronzes taken by the British army in a raid on the Kingdom of Benin, in present-day Nigeria, in 1897. The first set of the bronzes are to be returned in 2022.
Governor Obaseki has been at the forefront of calls to return the artefacts with his engagement with the Benin Dialogue Group, culminating in the setting up of the Legacy Restoration Trust, which has now secured funding and support for the construction of EMOWAA and excavation of relics of the old Benin Empire, including the famous Benin moat. The first set of buildings for the Museum is proposed to be ready by next year.