Evidence 4
Bear in mind when debating this issue:
In what is essential,
there must be unity;
In what is doubtful,
There must be freedom;
In everything,
There must be humanity.
In this debate:
The essential is listening to the voice and wishes of the owner of the Benin treasures.
The Oba of Benin is their owner.
The doubtful is in some campaigners’ intentions.
The everything is in all the circumstances surrounding the debated issue.
In what is essential,
there must be unity;
In what is doubtful,
There must be freedom;
In everything,
There must be humanity.
In this debate:
The essential is listening to the voice and wishes of the owner of the Benin treasures.
The Oba of Benin is their owner.
The doubtful is in some campaigners’ intentions.
The everything is in all the circumstances surrounding the debated issue.
Illustration of the above points.
Picture this
A thief breaks into a house whilst the owners are out. The thief steals priceless ornaments and takes them to his own house and family. They enjoy the status associated with their stolen items for years. After 118 years, the family tires of them and decide to return them to their grieving owners. How best to do this? Why not accuse the theft victims of some detestable offence then it won't look so bad on us. Not content with that, they go public to the media to publicise and justify their actions. What heroes!
A true case
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-31605284
I will return to this interview at a later date, for now I will respond to a few comments by our hero.
1)
"His diary shows that he had a sense of humanity rather than what I was expecting to find - a shared sense of racial superiority.' We know this to be untrue as the real reason for the invasion of Benin was well documented by the British at the time. This was not a humanitarian mission but of commercial interest.
2)
"Herbert's diary describes how the British fired Maxim machine guns and rockets at their enemies." Surely these must have killed some people. As Sir Bacon stated in his book the Benins took their dead away very quickly. At one time they saw on the road, a heap of 29 bodies killed during the fighting. These dead bodies littered Benin City and the surrounding areas. Some were left in hurriedly prepared mass graves and abandoned as the Benin people fled for their lives. Any photographs taken were of these dead bodies.
3)
"As we approached the city through the bush, we found bodies of slaves newly sacrificed & placed across the path to bring the Benis luck, while they lay in holes, or behind cover, & 'sniped' at us as we passed." No one of these bodies had a label with the word 'slave' written on it. Therefore this sentence is ludicrous. The sentence confirms that there was active combat going on at the time. The dead bodies were those killed by British Maxim guns and rockets. The Benin soldiers would not have killed their own side. It would also have been reckless for the Benins to use slaves to defend their country when they had very able and well trained soldiers.
Conclusive evidence: "We are taught from a very young age that the killing of enemy combatants under the umbrella of statehood is a regrettable necessity of life," he says. This statement admits to the killings of the Benin people as enemies in combat. It goes without saying then that the dead bodies which littered the place were not from Benin human sacrifice but from British shelling actions. There can be no better evidence for this than this callous statement. I therefore rest my case on this point.
4)
As for the looted artworks, he believes his grandfather did what everybody else did at that time.
"To him, it was probably no more than picking up stuff that's washed up on the beach, because people had fled and nobody owned them any longer." This is an incredible statement to make. I cannot believe that it was made in this day and age. How self belittling? Benin City had been evacuated by the king and the people's homes were in Benin City. They left their belongings including their dead behind in the hope of coming back when things had settled down. And as one of the photographs taken by and shown in Herbert Walker's diary show they did return. They returned to find their priceless belongings stolen and gone.Their homes vandalised by ransacking thieves.
5)
The below statements are very telling.
Looking back, Mark says he feels no shame at his grandfather's part in the Benin Punitive Expedition.
Herbert describes how a fellow officer "is now wandering round with chisel & hammer, knocking off brass figures & collecting all sorts of rubbish as loot". Religious buildings and palaces were torched. This is no more than finger pointing holier than thou claim.
A few of the artefacts were kept as souvenirs by the officers who were there - Herbert held on to two pieces, a so-called "bird of prophecy", known as an Oro bird, and a bell used to invoke ancestors. Thousands of Benin treasures were stolen thus.
Mark inherited them in 2013. "I was surprised, having coveted them for so many years that when I finally came in possession of them I found myself asking what their future was," he says.
His children weren't interested in them and he did not want them sold at auction after his death.
"As you come into your 60s you realise you have got to start making preparations for moving away from this life. I was asking myself, 'What do I want them for?' Possessions aren't as important as I used to think when I was younger," says Walker.
6)
The ultimate betrayal:
"It was very humbling to be greeted with such enthusiasm and gratitude, for nothing really. I was just returning some art objects to a place where I feel they will be properly looked after," says Mark.
The Benin people are very trusting and welcoming, giving everyone the benefit of doubt. Yet our hero made points 3 and 4 statements above about them after the reception they gave him.
View the full inteview on this link: Witness BBC World Service
Picture this
A thief breaks into a house whilst the owners are out. The thief steals priceless ornaments and takes them to his own house and family. They enjoy the status associated with their stolen items for years. After 118 years, the family tires of them and decide to return them to their grieving owners. How best to do this? Why not accuse the theft victims of some detestable offence then it won't look so bad on us. Not content with that, they go public to the media to publicise and justify their actions. What heroes!
A true case
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-31605284
I will return to this interview at a later date, for now I will respond to a few comments by our hero.
1)
"His diary shows that he had a sense of humanity rather than what I was expecting to find - a shared sense of racial superiority.' We know this to be untrue as the real reason for the invasion of Benin was well documented by the British at the time. This was not a humanitarian mission but of commercial interest.
2)
"Herbert's diary describes how the British fired Maxim machine guns and rockets at their enemies." Surely these must have killed some people. As Sir Bacon stated in his book the Benins took their dead away very quickly. At one time they saw on the road, a heap of 29 bodies killed during the fighting. These dead bodies littered Benin City and the surrounding areas. Some were left in hurriedly prepared mass graves and abandoned as the Benin people fled for their lives. Any photographs taken were of these dead bodies.
3)
"As we approached the city through the bush, we found bodies of slaves newly sacrificed & placed across the path to bring the Benis luck, while they lay in holes, or behind cover, & 'sniped' at us as we passed." No one of these bodies had a label with the word 'slave' written on it. Therefore this sentence is ludicrous. The sentence confirms that there was active combat going on at the time. The dead bodies were those killed by British Maxim guns and rockets. The Benin soldiers would not have killed their own side. It would also have been reckless for the Benins to use slaves to defend their country when they had very able and well trained soldiers.
Conclusive evidence: "We are taught from a very young age that the killing of enemy combatants under the umbrella of statehood is a regrettable necessity of life," he says. This statement admits to the killings of the Benin people as enemies in combat. It goes without saying then that the dead bodies which littered the place were not from Benin human sacrifice but from British shelling actions. There can be no better evidence for this than this callous statement. I therefore rest my case on this point.
4)
As for the looted artworks, he believes his grandfather did what everybody else did at that time.
"To him, it was probably no more than picking up stuff that's washed up on the beach, because people had fled and nobody owned them any longer." This is an incredible statement to make. I cannot believe that it was made in this day and age. How self belittling? Benin City had been evacuated by the king and the people's homes were in Benin City. They left their belongings including their dead behind in the hope of coming back when things had settled down. And as one of the photographs taken by and shown in Herbert Walker's diary show they did return. They returned to find their priceless belongings stolen and gone.Their homes vandalised by ransacking thieves.
5)
The below statements are very telling.
Looking back, Mark says he feels no shame at his grandfather's part in the Benin Punitive Expedition.
Herbert describes how a fellow officer "is now wandering round with chisel & hammer, knocking off brass figures & collecting all sorts of rubbish as loot". Religious buildings and palaces were torched. This is no more than finger pointing holier than thou claim.
A few of the artefacts were kept as souvenirs by the officers who were there - Herbert held on to two pieces, a so-called "bird of prophecy", known as an Oro bird, and a bell used to invoke ancestors. Thousands of Benin treasures were stolen thus.
Mark inherited them in 2013. "I was surprised, having coveted them for so many years that when I finally came in possession of them I found myself asking what their future was," he says.
His children weren't interested in them and he did not want them sold at auction after his death.
"As you come into your 60s you realise you have got to start making preparations for moving away from this life. I was asking myself, 'What do I want them for?' Possessions aren't as important as I used to think when I was younger," says Walker.
6)
The ultimate betrayal:
"It was very humbling to be greeted with such enthusiasm and gratitude, for nothing really. I was just returning some art objects to a place where I feel they will be properly looked after," says Mark.
The Benin people are very trusting and welcoming, giving everyone the benefit of doubt. Yet our hero made points 3 and 4 statements above about them after the reception they gave him.
View the full inteview on this link: Witness BBC World Service