Prayers foiled plot to re-loot returned Benin artifacts – Oba of Benin

The Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Ewuare II, has attributed the dominion’s means to frustrate makes an attempt to re-loot returned Benin artifacts to divine intervention and prayers.

The monarch stated the palace relied on God’s intervention, reasonably than human energy, to beat these allegedly searching for to remove the cultural treasures returned following the 1897 British invasion.

Oba Ewuare II spoke when the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), led a delegation of the company on a courtesy go to to his palace in Benin City, Edo state.

“The way we battled these potential prospective re-looters of our artifacts was not by the power of man but by the power of God Almighty,” the monarch stated.

He added that prayers, alongside the help of conventional chiefs, members of the royal household and well-wishers, performed necessary roles in defending the dominion’s cultural heritage.

The Benin monarch additional vowed that no try to remove the returned artifacts would succeed throughout his reign.

He stated the marketing campaign for the restitution of looted Benin artifacts predated his reign, noting that successive generations of the royal household, together with his grandfather and father, had sustained the battle.

Her stated he had intensified the efforts of his predecessors, expressing satisfaction with the rising worldwide response to the dominion’s demand for the return of its cultural treasures.

Oba Ewuare II additionally recalled his diplomatic engagements as Nigeria’s ambassador to Scandinavian nations, together with Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, the place he pursued initiatives to strengthen cultural relations and promote the restitution marketing campaign.

He added that the initiative concerned presenting specifically commissioned Benin artworks to European monarchs as presents, in a bid to deepen cultural ties and encourage the return of artifacts taken from the dominion.