Over the past few years, many institutions across the world have started to cave to the pressure of returning these artefacts to their real owners. However, the negotiations to return them often come with conditions set by the illegal owners to assure them the real owners plan to adequately preserve and even display the artefacts in public.
Artefacts stolen from the old Benin Kingdom during a British invasion in 1897 have been scattered all over the world, displayed in museums and other institutions in the United States, United Kingdom and the rest of Europe.
“They belong to us and must be transferred first before we decide on how and where they’re held. Where they should be returned to is not the business of the holders,” the 66-year-old said.
