Protesters in Nigeria disrupt opening of major West African art museum

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Protesters in Nigeria have disrupted this week’s opening of a major museum of West African art, where local disputes over the world-renowned Benin Bronzes have already kept them from being put on display.

Videos circulating online show more than a dozen young people on Sunday evening rushing the grounds of the multi-million-dollar Museum of West African Art in Benin City, the seat of a famous pre-colonial empire.

The demonstrators asserted that the museum’s opening is a violation of Benin City’s cultural heritage, which falls under the authority of its traditional ruler. They chanted in support of that ruler, the Oba of Benin. Guests including foreigners were whisked away from Sunday’s soft opening. No one was reported hurt.

The museum had been meant to officially open on Tuesday. After Sunday’s incident, the museum asked the public to postpone plans to visit until the situation is clarified.

The museum did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.

Nigeria’s federal government said it was monitoring the situation in Benin City with “deep concern.”

The museum had been meant to house some of the Benin Bronzes, which were looted in the late 19th century by British soldiers and scattered across the world. Nigeria’s government and activists have called for their return for decades.

In June, the Netherlands returned 119 of the bronzes to Nigeria in the largest repatriation to date.

According to a 2023 law signed by Nigeria’s then-President Muhammadu Buhari, the Oba of Benin is the custodian of the artifacts. After disputes with the Oba of Benin, plans to display the returned bronzes at the museum were shelved.

The museum is privately owned by the MOWAA trust, a nonprofit. A statement by the museum said the former state government, under whose patronage it was established, has “no interest financial or otherwise” in the museum.

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This version corrects the name of the museum to the Museum of West African Art.