Nigeria receives stolen artifacts repatriated from the U.S.

One of the 22 pieces of repatriated Benin Bronzes from the U.S Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of African Art on display after being handed over to Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, H. E. Zubairu Dada on befalf of the Nigerian government. /Handout, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nigeria.

Nigeria has received 22 pieces of repatriated Benin Bronzes from the United States, the latest arrival of the country’s stolen historic objects.

The artifacts were received on Tuesday from the U.S. Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of African Art by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, H. E. Zubairu Dada.

The Nigerian government has been among many African countries that have been pushing for the return of stolen African artifacts to their countries of origin.

Hundreds of the historic objects are on display in foreign countries despite repeated calls for them to be given back.

Most of the artifacts were stolen from their countries of origin during the colonial period.

Earlier this month, Nigeria offered to loan the artifacts back to countries that would agree to the repatriation request.

“Many museums are responding positively, and it is the right thing to do for any museum of a country because you cannot illegally take artifacts away from their original place, display them in your museums,” the Director General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), Abba Tijjani, said.

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