BENIN CITY: Edo State Governor Mr. Godwin Obaseki has announced that his administration was working to bring back Benin Artifacts that were looted to Europe.
The governor disclosed this when he received the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of Germany, a team of investigative journalists working on a documentary on the Return of the Looted Benin Artifacts Project at government house in Benin City Edo State.
Obaseki who described the stolen artifacts as the cultural and social symbols of the Benin people said his administration was working with the federal museum and monument and the Benin Palace to secure the return of the artifacts yet to be returned.
“We want our property back and the artifacts represent our culture and social system, our history and political structure. We have started working on the whole idea of bringing back the looted items’’, he said.
The governor said that his administration was working on tourism Master plan and securing the return of the looted artifacts would boost tourism development in the state. He commended the team for the project and assured of his support.
Earlier, Dr Lutz Mukke, leader of the team described the 1897 invasion of Benin by the Colonial masters as cruel saying that the return of the Benin stolen artifacts would signify restoration of its stolen identity.
Mukke said the team embarked on the project to ensure that justice was enthroned as the items were stolen from the Benin Kingdom. He said that the Nigeria government had being supportive of the project and the team was working with some media organizations within and outside the country on a 10-page documentary of the project.