Original Ife bronze heads, of which only some 20 survive, are thought to be about 700 years old.
They are cast in thin metal with great skill and are strikingly lifelike, amongst the most magnificent sculptures ever made in sub-Saharan Africa.But the sculpture had a hole by the left eye, which matched the description of a head reported stolen by the UN's cultural organisation, Unesco.
In the 1980s and '90s Nigeria's museums suffered many damaging robberies. Staff from within Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments collaborated in some of the thefts. A former employee at Jos Museum told me she was in no doubt that this robbery was also an inside job.In 1990 collectors in Switzerland were approached by a man trying to sell a beautiful Benin Bronze head for a half a million Swiss francs.
On 14 November 2007, the Belgian authorities held an auction of confiscated art items. Among the lots was the Ife head. It was bought by a local antique dealer, for the princely sum of €200 , plus 20% tax. He bought an acoustic guitar at the same auction. The Nigerian authorities are incandescent, not least because Belgium's failure to answer these questions may make it impossible to ever discover what happened to the other pieces stolen from Jos. Babatunde Adebiyi of the NCMM said Belgium's inability to explain what happened is "ridiculous".
"Everyone agrees this piece was stolen," said a British official, "but has the Belgian dealer, in legal terms, done anything wrong? He bought it in a government sale."I told him [the antique dealer] he could be an international hero. He said he wanted money, not people saying nice things about him""Whatever our private preference, we can't take property from an individual," said an official.
In our brief phone conversation, the dealer told me he's been talking to the Nigerians for three years, and a resolution of this matter depends on them."We reported its loss in 1987. We will not pay compensation," insisted Mr Adebiyi.
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