Germany Ready To Return Stolen Benin Artifacts

President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, Berlin, has declared in Benin,

Herrmann Parzinger, says  the Republic of Germany was ready to  return the Benin Artifacts looted  during the 1897 British invasion of the ancient City.

 Parzinger,  disclosed this when his delegation visited Benin,Edo State on Friday.

He said:” I am quite touched to see how vivid this culture is. The Benin bronze is outstanding arts. We are happy we can give Benin bronzes back to Benin and Nigeria.This Benin museum is a state-of-the-art if you compare it internationally. We are happy that the objects will come back to this museum.

“So, we want your cooperation and we want to support you in capacity building, training and education. We want to learn from you about the knowledge of Benin bronze. We really want to open a new chapter in our relations especially in the area of cultural cooperation.

He  emphasized  the need for the cooperation of all stakeholders in Nigeria and in Edo state  for the return of the artworks,and assured  that the foundation will support the country in the area of capacity building, education among others.

He also said the foundation was willing to learn from the Benin kingdom about knowledge of Benin artworks.

Directorate General for Culture and Communications of the German Foreign Office, Andreas Görgen,  who led the delegation,explained that  the visit to Edo state was to  attest to the joint willingness of five Federal States of Germany, the Federal government of Nigeria and the five museums holders of Benin artworks to proceed to the restoration of the looted artifacts to  Nigeria and Benin.