US museum returns two looted artefacts to Benin

Oba Ewuare II, the Oba of Benin, has received two looted artifacts returned by the Stanley Museum of Art of the University of Iowa in the United States of America.

One wooden carved mother hen and a brass plaque were reportedly among the thousands of artefacts looted from the palace of the Oba during the 1897 Benin massacre.

The two artefacts eventually found their way to the Stanley Museum of Art.

Cory Gundlach, curator of African art at the museum, admitted that the university has been using the objects in the teaching of Benin history without the permission of the Oba or the palace.

The curator, who was accompanied by Peju Layiwola, special adviser to the Oba of Benin, apologised on behalf of the museum.

Meanwhile, the Oba appreciated Gundlach for his contributions to facilitating the restitution efforts, adding that other museums in the US should emulate the Stanley Museum of Art and return the looted artifacts in their possession.

He said the returned artefacts are worth a million times more than they seem.

In 2022, the federal government recovered 31 Benin bronzes from three museums in the United States 125 years after they were stolen.