Agence France-Presse reported on November 27 that Nigeria recovered a ceramic relic with a history of at least 600 years on November 26 local time. The artifact was previously stolen in the city of Eliif in southwestern Nigeria.
The thief falsified documents to take it out of Nigeria and smuggled it to the Netherlands through Ghana in 2019. It was intercepted by the Dutch customs at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
The Dutch Information and Heritage Inspection Department Later, the Nigerian government was contacted to facilitate the return of the cultural relic.
The pottery head has been handed over to the National Museum and Heritage Committee of Nigeria for safekeeping and will be displayed to the public in the future.
It is understood that there are currently hundreds of stolen Nigerian artifacts on display in museums in Europe and the United States, including Benin bronzes that were stolen before and during the colonial period.
In a statement, Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture Mohamed Rai said that he will continue to work hard to track the ancient cultural relics that have returned abroad.
