TheCable

Nigeria has received some of its looted artefacts from Germany.

The development comes shortly after an agreement signed between both countries on ownership of the artefacts.

According to the ministry of foreign affairs, the Benin bronzes were officially received on Tuesday at a ceremony held in Abuja.

In an earlier statement, the German government said the agreement signed was for the return of 92 historical Benin artworks.

“The City of Cologne is transferring ownership of 92 historical Benin court artworks, which date from a British invasion in 1897 and are now in the collection of the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum (RJM), to the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the statement reads.

“This was decided by the Cologne City Council at its meeting on Thursday, December 8, 2022.

“Mayor Henriette Reker signed an agreement on the transfer of ownership today, Thursday, December 15, 2022, together with Prof. Abba Isa Tijani, Director General of Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments. This legally completes the transfer.

“At the request of the Nigerian partners, three works are to be returned to Nigeria in December, a further 52 works gradually from 2023 and 37 of the works of art will initially remain on loan in the Cologne museum for ten years.

“These are 92 Benin court artworks looted by the British army in 1897 from the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin, located in present-day Nigeria. The British army took the palace, looted it and finally burned it down.

“From the summer of 1897, the stolen court artworks were gradually being auctioned off in European auction houses or remained in the private hands of the participants in the invasion, who later sold them on the art market.

“Between 1899 and 1967, the RJM’s 92 court artworks entered the Cologne museum collection through purchases and donations.”

See photos below.