Benin monarch, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo Oba Ewuare II, Oba of Benin, on Monday, received two looted artefacts from the University of Iowa Museum, United States of America.
The items, a mother hen and a bronzen plaque, are part of the Benin works of arts stolen during the 1897 British military expedition in the old Benin Kingdom, known in history as the Benin Massacre of 1897.
The British colonial soldiers who invaded the kingdom, sacked the then reigning Omo N’Oba, Oba Overamwen Nogbaisi, looted the palace and made away with countless works of arts which were later spread across several museums in the United Kingdom, America and Europe.
Oba Ewuare II, while receiving the returned items in his palace, said that ex-President Muhammadu Buhari made the palace owner of the artefacts through his recent gazette before he left office.
The monarch who was elated over the return of the artworks, alluded to some of the earlier ones retuned to the palace whose process, he said, his forebears started.
The Benin monarch noted that what many considered as mere works of art had far-reaching spiritual implications which mere mortals could not understand
He further appealed to the political leaders to help preserve the traditions and customs of the land just as he said it should not be left to the traditional institutions alone.
Earlier, Mr. Cory Gundlach, a curator from the African Art, apologized to the Oba of Benin for using the artifacts as teaching materials in the university just as he also apologized on behalf of other his colleagues who have used the arts to teach thousands of students in the United States of America.
He assured the monarch of his determination to ensure that others that are kept elsewhere are returned to their original abode.
Peoplesmind