In Nigeria, art objects returned by the Netherlands will soon be “displayed in all their splendor”
From a museum in Leiden and the municipality of Rotterdam, 119 artifacts looted 120 years ago during the British colonial invasion of Nigeria were received in Lagos on June 21, the largest repatriation of these historical objects. While a high-end art gallery is set to exhibit them, the question of their preservation remains unresolved.
“This is the largest repatriation of historical objects since they were looted more than 120 years ago,” writes the Lagos-based newspaper The Vanguard . One hundred and nineteen artifacts, “including 113 pieces from the collection of the [National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden, the Netherlands] and six from the collection of the Municipality of Rotterdam,” were returned to Nigeria, adds Koaci . These pieces “were taken from the Kingdom of Benin, in what is now southern Nigeria, during a British military expedition in 1897,” reports the pan-African news site.
An operation led by Sir Harry Rawson in retaliation for the deaths of nine British soldiers, which led to the exile of the then king, Ovonramwen Nogbaisi. The mission “resulted in massacres, the burning of Benin City and the looting of the royal palace.” Thousands of pieces were stolen by British soldiers and later purchased by European museums.
The official handover of these 119 art objects took place in Lagos on June 21, in the presence of the Dutch Ambassador, Dewi van de Weerd, and the Director General of the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), Olugbile Holloway. “All we ask of the world is to
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