Stolen Arts: Government Sanctioned Loots

Ever since the British government ordered its troops to invade Bini kingdom in mid western Nigeria in 1897, more Nigerian historical and cultural artifacts have been in possession of museums and private collectors through out the western hemisphere than in Nigeria.
After the British military expedition of 1897 in Benin city, Nigeria, they carted away thousands of bronze and ivory art works of the ancient Binis and immediately auctioned some to cover the cost of the expedition. Some of the museums and the estimated quantity of Bini bronze they purchased from the British are as follows:
The field Museum, Chicago: 400 art pieces.
Berlin-Ethnologisches museum: 500 pieces.
Chicago art institute 20.
Cologne Rautenstrauch-Joest museum 73.
Hamburg-museum fur volkerkunde, museum fur Kunst und gewerbe 196.
Dresden-Staatlisches museum fur volkerkunde 182.
Leipzig-museumfur volkerkunde 87.
Leiden- Rijksmuseum voor volkerkunde 98.
New york Metropolitan Museum of Fine Arts 163.
Oxford -Pitt Rivers museum/ Pitt Rivers country Residence Rushmore in Farnham/ Dorset 327.
St Petersburg 40
Stuttgart 80
Vienna-museum fur volkerkunde 167
Those were the figures given by the Vanguard news paper of september 21, 2008 on its " arts and Book Review" column titled, " Nigeria: The Quest of Reclaiming Stolen Cultural Objects from Western Countries".
Western nations have been unwilling to return these cultural artifacts to Nigeria, claiming that Nigerian government has not made a formal request for their return. Formal request? as if Nigerian government requested for those items to be forcibly removed from the country. According to The Guardian news paper, Nigerian minister of tourism, culture and national orientation 2007 Bini Art exhibition held in Berlin, made a passionate appeal to Western nations to return those artifacts to Nigeria but that apart, I am aware that since 1976, Nigerian government has requested the return of the artifacts. in the year 2000, the Bini royal family wrote a letter to the British house of commons pleading for the return of those works of art but the requests were never granted. To make matters worse, the British museum continue to sell some of these artifacts for profit. They Even sold some back to Nigerian government at exorbitant prices.
Western nations should act in good faith and return those items to Nigeria. The country has suffered enough from colonial powers. Slavery and colonialism was meted on its people by the same adversaries that stole its cultural items and continue to perpetrate the same act of theft.