₦airaland Forum

Gunmen in Nigeria shot dead a human rights leader in the southeastern part of the country early this morning, a rights activist said.

Chidi Nwosu, president of Human Rights, Justice and Peace Foundation, a group campaigning against rights abuses in Abia state, was killed at about 1.00 a.m. at his home in the city of Aba, said Emeka Umeagbalasi, the chairman of the Intersociety rights group.

“The gunmen locked Nwosu’s wife and child in a toilet, took him into a room and fired three shots at him before leaving the house,” Umeagbalasi said in a telephone interview.

The Nigerian government deployed army troops in Abia state in October to curb an increase in abductions and armed robberies, particularly in Aba, a major commercial center in southeastern Nigeria.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-29/nigerian-human-rights-campaigner-killed-by-gunmen-at-his-home.html

like dating your colleague at work, or your classmate in uni.

high risk of "see finish" syndrome

The auction has been called off.

Victory for great Bini history and tradition.

Oba gha to kpere Ise.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/sothebys-cancels-sale-of-looted-benin-mask-2171125.html

At last, victory for common sense and Great Bini history

Oba gha to kpere Ise.

Sotheby's has scrapped its February sale of a controversial £4.5m mask believed to have been looted by British forces from 19th-century West Africa.

A number of private individuals contacted the auction house last week to complain about the sale of the 16th-century ivory mask, once thought to have belonged to an ancient Nigerian king. Local government officials in Nigeria have publicly condemned the sale and criticised the object's current owners, the descendants of a former British government official involved in an 1897 British invasion of Benin, a city-state in what is now Nigeria.

The mask, one of the last great masterpieces of Benin sculpture remaining in private hands, is believed to have been worn by the "Oba" or king of Benin on ceremonial occasions.

It was due to be sold by the descendants of Lt-Col Sir Henry Lionel Galway, who took part in 1897's punitive expedition in southern Nigeria. This was carried out by British forces in retaliation for a massacre of a previous British-led invasion force. Troops deposed the king and looted the city.

The British confiscated many of the treasures they found, auctioning them off to finance the expedition. Many of the artefacts ended up in the British Museum, which currently holds another of the same group of masks, although some remained in private hands.

"The Benin ivory mask and other items consigned by the descendants of Lionel Galway which Sotheby's had announced for auction in February 2011 have been withdrawn from sale at the request of the consignors," said a Sotheby's spokesman.

Protests against the sale emerged on social networking sites last week. An online petition was organised by the Nigeria Liberty Forum, which describes itself as a "UK-based Nigerian pro-democracy group".

"They should seek good counsel and refrain from selling the mask," Orobosa Omo-Ojo, an official in the state government of Edo, which contains the modern city of Benin, told the press in Nigeria. "Anything that makes them ignore this call [from] the Edo state government will [make us] use this as a starting point to protect our intellectual properties."

The mask, which depicts the head of the queen mother of the Edo peoples, was due to be auctioned along with five other rare pieces collected from Benin at the same time. According to Sotheby's, the masks "rank among the most iconic works of art to have been created in Africa".

The mask had previously been on public view in 1947 as part of an exhibition at London's Berkeley Galleries. It was shown in 1951 in another show at the Arts Gallery of the Imperial Institute in London.

"It has an amazing untouched surface which collectors love," said the director of African and Oceanic Art at Sotheby's, Jean Fritts. "Its honey colour attests to years of rubbing with palm oil."

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/sothebys-cancels-sale-of-looted-benin-mask-2171125.html

binhozie:
The link is the first thing on this thread. . .Sahara Reporters

hmmmmm, i rest my case

i wonder what ur source is, or had some "sauce" been added to flavour the story?

is the word pagan not condescending? makes it look like the person has leprosy or something.

the muslims are the only ones that seem to cause all the trouble

where is the death sentence when you need one?

Harus:
D state governor said the above quoted sentence, but yet some FOOLS on this tread are still attributing it to RELIGIOUS. What a DAFT?
Somebody is sitting on a computer at home, outside JOS, claiming he knows better than even the governor of the state (a christain).
Illiteracy/ignorant are getting too much in this country.

Anybody (Muslim or Christain or Animist) can do this criminal act.

Or are u a not-so-smart person?

And you sit at home in front of your computer believing the governor is being honest with his statement to the media.

Hamid O:
What are you?? A psychiatrist or a psychiatric patient cos I don't understand how you saw what you have claimed to see. Anyway we are talking Arsenal here and I don't think I want to step on the foot of an old man

At least u are beginning to exhibit some manners.

Your rudeness had hitherto been palpable hence i don't need physical eyes to perceive the filth you had been spewing earlier.

Trust me on this, next time you come in here, only read what others write, that way you would learn fast. The premier league did not start yesterday, or with dstv/hi whatever.

Otherwise restrict yourself to the jokes section where your contemporaries are. Shikena

Hamid O:
Can't remember asking you when you joined arsenal old man. And who are your contemporaries? Local Champ

i can see juvenile hormones pumping through your system. you are obviously spoiling for a fight, but like i said you are definitely unarmed for one.

Hamid O:
I'm so certain you are not a gunner,  Febregas, V.persie, Diaby are all back in the starting lineup o. Chelsea's current form is nothing to write home about remember.

i have been an arsenal fan even before you were born young man.
go have this debate with your contemporaries.

as much i am a gunner, arsenal will lose by at least a 2 goal margin.

kadman:
May God in Heaven bless you. Nigerian movies do not make sense solely based on that logic, the good name ALWAYS win, the criminal is ALWAYS caught, the cheating woman/man ALWAYS suffers, the born again ALWAYS overcomes. Is that the way the world works ? Just on this argument alone Nigerian movies are not REALISTIC.

We are all taken on a ride to the fantasy world of nollywood producers and directors.

@ r231

thank God you are safe. Black ice could be very hazardous. You feel like an amateur learning to skate. however bmws remain lovely cars, at least for the summer and milder winters.

@ poster

Instead of attacking justwise, i really hope you listen to his advice and act on it. I just went through the thread on the link he posted and was literally shocked that you still went ahead with the traveling and now in this frustrating position.

Don't take any offence. I have been there myself. Infact most of us abroad have. Important thing is keep your head down, don't do anything daft, remember when there is life, there is hope. Stay alive, stay out of trouble. Good luck.

obailala:
Why should it be banned?? what's wrong with the song?

How am I not sure the poster is the artist himself or the artist's friend just trying to promote his song here on nairaland?

Absolutely. And why did it make front page? or is the mod. himself Mr put something?

Anyway the only reason it should be banned is the degree of "warwar" by the artiste.

are there coast guards in naija? maybe lagos/federal govt. should look into this.

may her soul rest in peace. very sad indeed.

if she had been a willow "atutupoyoyo" i bet she would not have had this opportunity to stardorm.

Maybe its me being cynical.

this may not be the best section for the thread, but if you ask me, i bet she shagged both men. Atiku is a big guy in the middle of a political campaign, she wouldn't wanna do anything to derail or cause unnecessary distraction.

e don reach like that

Carry go BNC and ELA. These Brits should stop taking us for a ride and reaping the fruits of invasion/colonialism.

They say when you add sand to a blind mans "garri" grain by grain, he may be unaware initially, but it gets to a stage when he says alas!! enough is enough. Lets claim what is "legally" ours back, otherwise the spirits and blood of the great bini warriors will arise against these oyinbos [i wish ].

Benin National Congress condemns sale of Bini artefacts

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-574209.0.html

The Benin National Congress (BNC), a social cultural organisation that articulates the advancement of the Benin Kingdom on a robust intellectual pedestral, has expressed its indignation over the planned auction of Oba Ovonramwen’s statue in London.


In a strongly worded statement issued in Benin City yesterday, BNC President, Mr. Aiyamenkhue Edokpolor, stated that it is rather sad, callous and insensitive on the part of the British Government to tolerate the attempt or perpetuate the auctioning of stolen Benin icons
like Oba Ovonramwen’s statue whose death and burial-place has continued to reflect intrigues and daylight murder.


Mr. Edokpolor pointed out that the planned auction of Oba Ovonramwen’s statue in London at a time the Benins are celebrating the annual Igue festival with mixed feelings to the effect that this period also coincides with the infamous British punitive mission to the old Benin Empire where hundreds of thousands of the indigenes were killed, despoiled and maimed, and with precious materials violently looted, smacks of conspiracy and utter disrespect for the sanctity of the ancient Benin Kingdom on the part of the British Government.


He asserted that given the futile efforts by individuals and groups for the repatriation of these artefacts, it has become expedient to call on the African Union to severe ties with Britain because of its continuous refusal to yield to the clarion calls.


The BNC president said independent investigation had revealed that the artefacts was deliberately under valued at 4.5 million Pounds to down play public outcry, while in actual fact, independent archaeological survey indicates that the value of the artefacts is in the neighbourhood of 71 million Pounds.


“At no time had His Royal Majesty, Oba of Benin or the Government of Nigeria approved of the transfer of the Benin icon, so where is the legitimacy of ownership? The person seeking to auction it ought to be arrested in the first place for being in possession of stolen property,” the BNC noted.


The statement further pointed out that the planned auction of these artefacts is a reflection of the failure of Nigeria’s Federal Government to recover these imprisoned artefacts, adding that the BNC condemns in strong terms, the docility of Federal Government agencies like the National Commission for Museum and Monuments in the prevailing circumstances.


It urged the United Nations to condemn the ignoble proposal, and set a deadline for the unconditional return of these priceless arts.


Similar sentiment and vehemence was also expressed yesterday by the Edo Leadership Assembly (ELA), a pan-Benin organisation which condemned in the strongest of terms possible, the planned auction of stolen Benin artworks by Sotheby’s, an elite auction House based in the UK and USA.



The auction includes the Mask of Idia and five other items stolen from the Benin Kingdom during the British expedition of 1897.


According to news reports: “Only four other historical ivory pendant masks with related iconography of this age and quality are known; all of which are housed in major museums around the world.



All of the ivory masks are widely recognised for the quality of their craftsmanship, for the enormous scale of Benin’s artistic achievement and for their importance in the field of African art.


Produced for the Oba (or King) of Benin, these ivory pendant masks are testament to the Kingdom of Benin’s golden age when the kingdom flourished economically, politically and artistically.”


“The mask and the five other Benin objects will be sold by the descendants of Lieutenant Colonel Sir Henry Lionel Gallwey (in 1913 he changed his name to Galway) who was appointed deputy commissioner and vice-consul in the newly established Oil Rivers Protectorate (later the Niger Coast Protectorate) in 1891. He remained in Nigeria until 1902 and participated in the British Government’s “Punitive Expedition” of 1897 against Benin City.


The statement in quote amplifies the reason why these rare works of art cannot be owned by private individuals.



These are iconic artefacts of historical and contemporary significance to the people of Great Benin, Nigerians and Africans in general.



And considering the manner in which these artworks were stolen from the Benin Kingdom, it would be a grave injustice for the descendants of Galway to benefit monetarily from the pilfering of their forebear.


The Idia mask alone is estimated to be sold for over N1 billion naira.


The Edo Leadership Assembly calls on all Edos, Nigerians and people of goodwill everywhere to inundate Sotheby’s with protests calls, petitions, emails and faxes denouncing this slight on the people of Benin Kingdom and Nigeria at large.

http://nigerianobservernews.com/24122010/news/news%201.html

I am not sure about being"extremely expensive". It should depend on where you do your shopping in Lagos. The prices of the items listed should not be much different comparatively to cost of living, from what obtains in Beijing, shanghai.

~Bluetooth:
Are you ok ? who told you patience is not corrupt ?
She is a disgraced to Nigeria.please stop trying to address her as a semi literate,she is an illiterate.
My husband and sambo is a people

are you any better speaker or writer of English than her? empty vessels make the most noise. i have read your previous posts and to be honest below average comes to mind.
and "who told you she is corrupt" to use your lingo?