In a major cultural milestone, the Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, and the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, have received 119 looted artefacts returned by the Netherlands government to Edo State many decades after the items were forcefully taken away from the country.
The items, taken during the 1897 British invasion of the Benin Kingdom, were repatriated as part of the Netherlands’ governments effort to correct the injustices perpetrated during the colonial-era, including looting of property from the region.
Receiving the artefacts yesterday, Okpebholo, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Musa Ikhilor, said that the state would provide infrastructure to secure and preserve the returned artefacts.
The governor promised that the state government would be working with the Federal Government to enhance conservation efforts made by the Netherland government before returning the items to their ancestral place.
During the handover ceremony in Benin City, Oba Ewuare II expressed gratitude to President Bola Tinubu for sustaining the repatriation process initiated under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
He revealed that attempts by an international cartel to re-loot the artefacts were thwarted through divine and ancestral intervention.
“There were groups in this country believed to be part of an international cartel plotting to re-loot these artefacts. But God heard my prayers. My ancestors heard my prayers,” he said.
Reflecting on the painful events of 1897, the monarch recalled how British forces raided and destroyed the Benin Kingdom, carting away cultural treasures and leaving a legacy of trauma.
“They stole and burnt our Kingdom. They killed my people and tried to kill their spirit. The return of these artefacts has reawakened courage in our people,” he said, adding that he would resist any attempt to politicize or re-loot the returned heritage.
“This throne is not partisan, but I will support what is right. These artefacts belong to my ancestors. I will not sit on this throne and watch them be taken again.”
He called on Edo youths to remain resilient and to see the return of the artefacts as a symbol of ancestral strength and identity.
The Director-General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), Olugbile Holloway, pledged continued collaboration with the Benin Royal Palace to recover more stolen treasures.
Earlier, the General Director of the Wereldmuseum, Marieke Van Bommel, who led the Dutch delegation yesterday, confirmed that the returned collection represents all Benin artefacts held in Dutch institutions for over a century.
The return of the 119 artefacts is a landmark in the broader global movement for the restitution of African cultural heritage. While this transfer marks the completion of returns from the Netherlands, thousands of Benin artefacts remain scattered across museums in Europe and North America.
As the ceremony concluded, the Oba offered prayers that the returned artefacts would pave the way for more treasures to find their way back home.
