The Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama has called for capacity building for border security to check against the smuggling of the nation’s artifacts.
He made the call in Abuja when he recieved three Nigerian artifacts repatriated from the United States of America.
Mr. Onyeama however cautioned against allowing the priced artifacts to find its way back to Europe, through smuggling.
While receiving the stolen artifacts from the minister of Foreign Affairs, the Director General National Commission for Museums and Monuments Professor Abba Tijjani while appreciating the role played by the ministry of Foreign Affairs and it’s foreign missing and embassies in the repatriation of the nation’s artifacts, said the support would give room for more artifacts to be returned to the Federal Government.
He said the commission is going round the world to negotiate to see that Nigeria get its artifacts back.
Earlier, the Consul-General of Nigeria in New York, Ambassador Lot Egopija who handed over the treasured work of arts to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, said more negotiations were on to get back more of Artifacts repatriated to Nigeria.
Hamza Alkali