US museums return trove of looted treasures to Nigeria
A new exhibition in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital, features a selection of the country’s most precious and treasured artefacts.
Share
A new exhibition in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital, features a selection of the country’s most precious and treasured artefacts.
More than 450,000 artefacts had been hidden by the military and its allies in different parts of the world for decades.
Now, in a bold step to right the wrongs and bring these pieces home, authorities say they will return some of the artifacts to their rightful owners and to Nigeria while others will be displayed in museums.
The government has also established a committee to unearth and return the illegal copies of artefacts.
“The items under discussion will be exhibited in the National Museum, Abuja, or it will be on loan to other museums in the country,” presidential spokesman, Femi Falana, told the AFP news agency.
The most important among the looted items are the bronze-bronze statues of Biafra in Lagos. The Biafran Republic’s former leader, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, was declared its leader as a result of the looting.
The return of the looted artefacts may be a long process because Nigeria is suffering from many of the same internal problems which led to their theft.
Nigeria has spent millions on the war against Boko Haram since 2009 but has only made progress on the war against corruption.
A new generation of fighters, including teenagers, has emerged in recent months because of the war on terror, but there have been reports over the years that corruption and infighting have stymied the nation’s desire to take back a number of the stolen artefacts, including the Biafran statues.
“We are doing this because Nigeria and Nigeria alone is responsible for the looted artworks,” Falana said.
“We are not going to go to other countries and find them – we are going to go to the people