Looted artifacts belong to Edo people – Obaseki

The Edo state Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has said the proposed Edo Museum of West African Arts (EMOWAA) will “attract tourists from far and near to view Benin artefacts and have an experience of the history and rich cultural heritage of Edo people”.

This was just as the governor said the German government has declared interest to return all looted Benin artifacts in its custody.

He stated that the EMOWAA project, on completion, will serve as a facility to bridge the gap in the history and knowledge of the Edo people.

Obaseki who disclosed this while conducting the German Minister of State for Culture and the Media (BKM), Claudia Roth on a guided tour of EMOWAA project site in Benin City, said the artifacts belongs to Edo people.

According to him, “this conversation about restitution and return of these works have been going on for almost two years.

“It is part of our dealing to first return these artifacts to where they belong.

“But more importantly, whether they are all returned or not, what is most important is the ownership, that these work don’t belong to the people who are currently holding them, but to Edo people and as part of Nigeria, they should come back to Nigeria.

“This will also serve as a stimulus. Edo people are still very creative and the blood that flows in them is the same blood that flowed in the people who made these world-class pieces 500 years ago.

Hailing the German government for their support, the governor noted, “They are partially contributing to fund rtially contributing to fund the EMOWAA project.

The art works were looted from Benin by the British colonial troops who invaded the kingdom in 1897.