The artefacts, of Nok origin, were found in
the luggage of French citizen at a Paris
airport.
Their exact value has not been disclosed, but
they are believed to date back more than
3,000 years.
Nigeria's tourism minister told the BBC it
was a "big achievement" in the country's
campaign to recover its lost treasures from
around the world.
"I feel extremely delighted," said Edem Duke,
who attended the ceremony to receive the
sculptures from French embassy officials in
the capital, Abuja.
Over the last 85 years, Nok art has been
discovered in a large area of north-central
Nigeria from Jos to Kaduna.
Experts say Nok art, which often represents
human heads, is the earliest attempt at
portraiture yet discovered in Nigeria.
Nigeria's National Commission for Museums
and Monuments believes that items of Nok
culture show it was the first society to have
used iron in sub-Saharan Africa.
Smuggling routes
The BBC's Chris Ewokor, who attended the
ceremony in Abuja, says the terracotta
sculptures are believed to have been
smuggled out of Nigeria to neighbouring
Togo, from where the French buyer flew to
Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport.
It is a route thought to be used by
smugglers to avoid customs checks at
Nigerian airports, he says.
France's ambassador to Nigeria, Jacques
Champagne de Labriolle, told the BBC the
artefacts' return was part of a global
attempt to fight the "illegal trafficking of
cultural goods".
"It is both a decision by the French
government and an obligation by all those
countries that have signed the Unesco
convention on the matter," he said.
The return of the Nok sculptures would help
in Nigeria's fight to recover its lost heritage,
Mr Duke said.
"It's a very symbolic achievement and it also
sends a very important signal to the rest of
the world that we will continue to pursue
the repatriation of our heritage assets and
treasures wherever they are," he told the
BBC's Focus on Africa programme.
Nigeria has long campaigned for the return
of artefacts stolen when the British took
over the kingdom of Benin, now southern
Nigeria, in 1897.
Its latest call has been for Boston's Museum
of Fine Arts to return 32 Benin artefacts
which were donated by a collector to the
gallery last year.

Source - m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21246767

This is the third country now that has begun to return at least some of the african, particularly Nigerian artifacts back to Nigeria. To me it is about time

America Returns 11 Cultural Artifacts To Nigeria
https://www.nairaland.com/1002959/america-returns-11-cultural-artifacts

Egypt, Nigeria, Peru And Other Countries Want Their Cultural Artifacts Back
https://www.nairaland.com/1002983/egypt-nigeria-peru-other-countries

good. now aslong as the Birtish museums empty their coffers. .

Enough of these stealings of our cultural belongings. Let them keep returning

thanks France for returning them.
That is what Britain will never make an attempted attempt to do with Ori Olokun and others in their museum.

but britain does auction them. Nigerian businessmen and govt. must invest in them and bid for them. however we deserve to get it for free.

another thread on this: https://www.nairaland.com/1184645/france-returns-stolen-artefacts-nigeria