Oba Ewuare II says 40 looted Benin artefacts expected from Sweden

The Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, said on Wednesday that about 40 Benin artefacts held in a Swedish museum are expected back in the country, the latest batch of treasures taken during the British invasion of the ancient kingdom in 1897.

The monarch disclosed this at his palace in Benin City while receiving the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd).

According to the Oba, the handover will combine the formal transfer of ownership with the physical delivery of the works, unlike past returns where legal title was settled long before the objects arrived.

He said a delegation would go to Lagos to receive more artefacts. PM News reported that the handover was expected on Thursday, while ThisDay quoted the Oba as saying the artefacts were expected in Benin City within the week.

Years of diplomacy

Oba Ewuare II traced the expected return to decades of advocacy by the Benin royal dynasty, including efforts by his grandfather and father. He said his time as Nigeria's ambassador to Scandinavian countries, including Sweden, Norway and Denmark, opened doors for high-level talks on restitution.

He recalled that the King of Sweden granted him an audience of more than 12 minutes, longer than the usual two to three minutes, to present the kingdom's case.

The monarch also spoke about attempts to re-loot the artefacts. He said the palace battled prospective re-looters, vowing it would not happen during his reign.

For everyday Nigerians, the return is more than a museum event. The Benin bronzes and other antiquities are a major part of the country's cultural identity and a potential draw for tourism and research in Edo State.

Drug war and cannabis farms

Marwa used the visit to push the NDLEA's new Alternative Development plan, which encourages communities that grow cannabis to switch to cassava, yam and corn.

He said cannabis made up 75 per cent of the 16 million kilogrammes of illicit substances seized in the last six years, and that Edo is one of the states where it is cultivated.

According to Marwa, Nigeria is the first African country to adopt the strategy, which the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has welcomed and the Federal Government has folded into the Renewed Hope Agenda. A pilot has started in three communities in Ondo State.

He said the Federal Government, NDLEA and state governments would support the communities with farm inputs, roads, schools, clinics and water supply. He asked the Oba for royal backing and said he had presented the plan to the Edo governor, who welcomed it.

Earlier, Governor Monday Okpebholo told the NDLEA delegation at Government House that drug abuse drives cultism, kidnapping and other violent crimes in the state, and that government cannot win the fight alone.

"Drugs are totally our enemies, and we have to fight them," the governor said.

What happens next: The artefacts are expected to be handed over in Lagos before being taken to Benin City. The NDLEA hopes to extend its crop-substitution programme to Edo after the Ondo pilot.