The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Monday said that Nigeria had signed an agreement for the repatriation of 1,130 Benin bronzes from Berlin in Germany.
Mohammed during inauguration of The Art Hotel in Lagos, said that the bronzes were looted from the ancient city of Benin in 1897, 125 years ago.
He assured Nigerians of the Federal Government’s commitment toward recovering the nation’s priceless works of art.
“Let me restate our commitment to recovering our priceless works of art which were looted from our country.
“Our efforts in this regard have started to yield fruits. Last week, in Berlin, Germany, we signed the agreement for the repatriation of 1,130 Benin bronzes which were looted from the ancient city of Benin kingdom in 1897.
“This number represents the single largest repatriation of looted works of art anywhere in the world.
“There is no doubt that the return of the most coveted Benin bronzes to Nigeria will help to stimulate domestic tourism in our country,” he said.
In other news, emergency responders have recovered the bodies of a 52-year-old male and a 20-year- old female believed to be victims of boat accident in Lagos.
Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, the Zonal Coordinator South-West National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), confirmed the development to our correspondent on Saturday in Lagos.
Farinloye said that the incident was as a result of a W19 passenger Fibre boat carrying 16 people that capsized along the Ojo area of the state.
He said that the boat, which took off from Mile 2 to Ibeshe in Ojo axis, capsized while operating at night against the inland waterways rules.
Farinloye said that the incident happened at about 7.45 p.m on Friday.
“It was found out that the tide of the water drifted the boat to a stationary barge which caused it to overturn.
“Marine Police, the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Lagos State WaterWays Authority (LASWA) and volunteers swung into action in trying to rescue some of the victims, but to no avail.
“It cannot be confirmed if all the passengers including the captain were wearing life jackets but some people claimed some of them were wearing their life jackets which may not be effective.
“Recovery operations are still ongoing,” Farinloye said.
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