“They are the subject of loot. They were illegally taken out of the country,” Tijani said. He demanded the British Museum give back the Benin Bronzes, which British forces took in 1897.
“It is irrespective whether they are safe there. That is not an issue. The issue is that these are stolen artefacts, and they should be returned to Nigeria to the communities that they belong to,” he added.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Afrikan Reparations, threw light on the “insulting ridiculousness” of the British Museum’s refusal to return artefacts to their country of origin on security grounds.
“One of the most insulting reasons that they’ve given is that the other countries that these items belong to would either not be able to take care of them or they are likely to be stolen,” she said. “But you’ve got people in this country putting them on eBay.”
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 