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MFA Boston Returns Looted Artifacts to Oba of Benin

MFA Boston Returns Looted Artifacts to Oba of Benin

Yinka Olatunbosun

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), today returned two works of art from the Benin Kingdom to His Royal Majesty, Omo N’Oba Ewuare II, Oba of Benin, in a ceremony at the Nigeria House in New York City, which houses both the permanent mission of Nigeria to the United Nations and Consulate General of Nigeria.

The works were presented to His Royal Highness Prince Aghatise Erediauwa and H.E. Ambassador Samson Itegboje of the Embassy of Nigeria. The National Commission for Museums and Monuments, working with the Embassy of Nigeria in Washington, D.C., will take possession of these two works and coordinate their handling, care, transit to Nigeria, and delivery to the Oba of Benin.

The transfer, coordinated and facilitated by Dr. Arese Carrington, a member of the MFA’s Board of Advisors, was witnessed by HRH Prince Aghatise Erediauwa, H.E. Ambassador Samson Itegboje and Dr. Carrington, H.E. Ambassador Abubakar Jidda, Consul General of Nigeria, New York; Matthew Teitelbaum, the MFA’s Ann and Graham Gund Director; Pierre Terjanian, the MFA’s Chief of Curatorial Affairs and Conservation; and Victoria Reed, the MFA’s Senior Curator for Provenance. Some members of the Benin community in New York were also present to witness this return.

“I am pleased to deliver these two works of art to Prince Aghatise Erediuwa on behalf of HM Oba Ewuare II,” said Matthew Teitelbaum, Ann and Graham Gund Director of the MFA. “As custodians of these exceptional objects for the past 12 years, it is deeply gratifying to see them returned to their rightful owner. I want to thank Dr. Arese Carrington, Ambassador Itegboje and Consul General Jidda for their partnership in this truly meaningful event.”

In a press statement issued by the Director of Marketing and Communications, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, research on these looted artifacts is still ongoing.

Looted by British soldiers during the notorious military attack on the Kingdom of Benin in 1897, the objects that were restituted are a terracotta and iron Commemorative Head from the 16th or 17th century and a 16th–century bronze Relief Plaque Showing Two Officials with Raised Swords. The Commemorative Head can be traced to the London art market in 1899, when it was sold by dealer William Cutter to another dealer, William Downing Webster, along with other artwork looted from Benin. The Relief Plaque can be traced directly to the Crown Agent of the Niger Coast Protectorate (the British protectorate state, in what is today Nigeria, whose forces led the attack on Benin in 1897), who sold it in 1898. Both works of art were purchased by Augustus Pitt-Rivers (1827–1900) for the Pitt-Rivers Museum in Farnham, England.

That museum closed in the 1960s and its collections were dispersed. Robert Owen Lehman acquired the two works as he built his collection of Benin Kingdom artwork between the 1960s and 1980s, and donated them to the MFA in 2013 and 2018.

Three works of art from the Benin Kingdom remain in the MFA’s collection. The provenance of these items is inconclusive. They can be traced to the European and American art markets in the second half of the 20th century, and it is not known for certain when or how they left Benin.

The return of the artifacts to Oba of Benin is part of the cultural restitution that is championed by the Nigerian government to ensure that history and cultural heritage is preserved and respected.

Police Stop PDP BoT Meeting

Police Stop PDP BoT Meeting

Crisis within the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) deepened Monday as operatives of the FCT Police Command have stopped the Board of Trustees meeting, citing orders from above.

Though, members of BoT were allowed inside the PDP headquarters, they were not allowed into the main hall where the meeting was scheduled to take place.

As at press time, members of the PDP BoT were seen loitering around and discussing in small groups.

Those who tried to gain entrance to the meeting hall were ordered out.

Also, police and officers of the civil defence were seen manning all strategic points at the venue.

The BoT is said to be divided, the chairman of the board, Senator Adolphus Wabara, is leading a group championing the call for the 100th NEC, while the secretary, Senator Ahmed Maikarfi, is leading those calling for the expanded national caucus of the party.

As at press time, the BoT scheduled for 10am is yet to commence, but all members of the BoT have arrived the PDP headquarters

The crisis deepened when two senior party officials issued conflicting directives regarding the long-anticipated 100th meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC), scheduled for Monday (today).

Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja, the Deputy National Chairman (South), in a press conference held in Abuja on Sunday night, reaffirmed the party’s commitment to holding the 100th NEC meeting as scheduled, asserting that the meeting remains legally binding and unalterable.

Addressing journalists, Amb. Arapaja declared, “For the avoidance of doubt, the National Working Committee (NWC) assures all party members that the 100th NEC meeting will proceed as scheduled tomorrow, Monday, June 30, 2025, at the NEC Hall of the Wadata Plaza, PDP National Secretariat, Abuja.”

He noted that the meeting will receive critical updates on the work of the Zoning Committee and the National Convention Organizing Committee ahead of the party’s National Convention slated for August 28 to 30, 2025.

Amb. Arapaja emphasized that the meeting date was unanimously adopted during the party’s 99th NEC session on May 27, 2025, and remains inviolable under Section 31(3) of the PDP Constitution (as amended in 2017). “No organ, officer, or faction of the party has the authority to vary, cancel, or convert the NEC meeting.”

His remarks come in direct response to a notice circulated on social media, which purported that the NEC meeting had been replaced with a “Special Expanded National Caucus Meeting” on the same date and venue.

Dismissing the notice as unconstitutional, Arapaja stressed that no such organ as an “Expanded National Caucus” exists in the PDP Constitution. “Section 30 of the party’s Constitution is explicit in defining the structure, composition, and functions of the National Caucus. Any suggestion of expansion is not only alien to the party’s legal framework but entirely without basis,” he said.

In what appears to be a power play within the party’s hierarchy, the controversial notice was signed by Senator Samuel N. Anyanwu, the PDP’s National Secretary.

The notice invites a broad range of stakeholders, including former governors, immediate past gubernatorial candidates, ex-NWC members, state chairmen, and PDP National Assembly caucus members, to what it describes as a “Special Expanded National Caucus Meeting” at 2:00 p.m. on Monday.

The NWC, through Amb. Arapaja, has categorically disowned the invitation, urging members to disregard it. “The PDP is a party founded on the principles of rule of law, constitutional order, and internal democracy. These core values must be safeguarded at all times,” he concluded.

While the full implications of this internal discord remain unclear, it underscores growing tensions within the party’s leadership as it prepares for a crucial National Convention later this year. All eyes will now be on Monday’s developments at Wadata Plaza, where competing visions for the future of the PDP appear to be colliding.

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Rivers: Don’t touch N1.48trn budget, your job is over — Activist tells Ibas

Rights activist Celestine Akpobari has said that the job of Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtrd) as the Sole Administrator of Rivers state is over. This remark follows the truce reached by hitherto warring political actors in Rivers State – Governor Siminalayi Fubara; his predecessor Nyesom Wike; and the state assembly members. Akpobari, who is a
Rivers: Don’t touch N1.48trn budget, your job is over — Activist tells Ibas

Rights activist Celestine Akpobari has said that the job of Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtrd) as the Sole Administrator of Rivers state is over.

This remark follows the truce reached by hitherto warring political actors in Rivers State – Governor Siminalayi Fubara; his predecessor Nyesom Wike; and the state assembly members.

Akpobari, who is a member of the Governing Council of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project, HYPREP, stated this on Monday when he appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief programme.

He also warned Ibas against touching the N1,485,662,592,442 2025 Rivers State Appropriation Bill approved by the Senate on Wednesday, June 25, 2025.

The activist also called on President Bola Tinubu to immediately lift the emergency rule imposed on the oil-rich state and restore Governor Fubara.

Rivers: Don’t touch N1.48trn budget, your job is over — Activist tells Ibas

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Oil Theft: Army Arrests 46 Suspects, Destroys 23 Illegal Refining Sites in N’Delta

Oil Theft: Army Arrests 46 Suspects, Destroys 23 Illegal Refining Sites in N’Delta

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

In an effort to crackdown on oil theft, pipeline vandalism and associated crimes in the Niger Delta Region, the Nigerian Army, 6 Division arrested 46 alleged oil thieves in the region.

According to the Acting Deputy Director, 6 Division Army Public Relation, Danjuma Jonah, the troops of the Division conducted the operations with other security agencies between June 9 and 29,  2025.

He disclosed that during the operations, 23 illegal refining sites were deactivated and over 30,000 litres of stolen products recovered across the region. 

In Biseni Community, Adibawa in Yenagoa Local Government Area (LGA), Bayelsa State, nine big pots, 16 drum pots, four receivers, four drum coolants were said to have been destroyed with over 6,000 litres of stolen crude recovered.

The troops also apprehended two suspected criminals in possession of two locally fabricated pistols with 9mm rounds at Otueke in Ogbia LGA. 

Similarly, in Rivers State, around Kilometer 45 general area in Degema LGA, 6 illegal refining sites were uncovered, with over 5,000 litres of stolen crude confiscated.

Danjuma also disclosed that at Kula 1 general area in Akuku-Toru LGA, an illegal refining site was taken out, with four cooking ovens, four receivers, and four drums filled with over 2,500 litres of stolen Automotive Gasoline Oil (AGO) handled appropriately. 

He said: “Four suspected oil thieves were arrested in connection to the malfeasance.  Also, clearance operations conducted along the Imo River, led to the destruction of six illegal refining sites, 32 drum pots, nine drum receivers, 10 sacks with over 2,000 litres of crude oil recovered around Obuzor and Okoloma general areas in Ukwa West and Oyigbo LGAs of Abia and Rivers States respectively”.

The 6 Division, spokesperson revealed that “in Akwa Ibom State, troops raided a warehouse at Ukanafun LGA, where 131 nylon bags filled with over 3,930 litres of stolen products were recovered.

“Relatedly, at Ebughu area in Mbo LGA, troops intercepted seven 30 litre jerricans   filled with over 300 litres of illegally refined AGO,” he said. 

He also stated added: “In Delta State, at Kwale in Ndokwa East LGA, troops discovered a store at a tanker park along Asaba expressway, where 150 sacks filled with over 3,000 litres of stolen crude oil were recovered.”

“Troops also intercepted a vacuum truck with Registration Number Delta LEH 167 SP loaded with stolen crude at Yanga market road Oleh in Isoko North LGA. The driver abandoned the vehicle and fled.”

​  

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt In an effort to crackdown on oil theft, pipeline vandalism and associated crimes in the Niger Delta Region, the Nigerian Army, 6 Division arrested 46 alleged

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