The bronze head was stolen in 1987 from a musuem in the Nigerian city of Jos and eventually ended up in Europe via smugglers. Nigeria soon passed on the robbery to international organizations such as UNESCO. But at a public auction, organized by the Belgian government, a Flemish antique dealer managed to buy the heritage as ‘a lot of African art’ in 2007 for 240 euros. Five years later, he wanted to have it auctioned in London, after which the alarm bells went off. An expert found the piece listed as “stolen” and alerted the Metropolitan Police. They confiscated the piece and informed the Nigerians.
The Flemish owner only wants to sell the antique to Nigeria if he gets five million euros for it. Negotiations between the antique dealer and Nigeria have so far come to nothing. The Nigerians also do not believe that the man bought the piece ‘accidentally’ and did not know the real value of the heritage.
Belgium turns out to be the place for trade in antiques
For years it was a well-known trick in the antiques world: you have to be in Belgium for a shadowy trade in antiques. Despite the fact that Belgium, like the Netherlands, has pledged with the signing of a UNESCO treaty in 2009 to control all imports and exports of heritage from countries that suffer from looting, the country is popular for ‘trade’.
The Belgian customs authorities would also barely intercept ‘cultural goods’. The number is limited – just 19 last year and even just one in 2018 – and in recent years there has been only one repossession.
One detective, one assistant
The money involved in antiques smuggling is also not detected. In recent years, hardly any suspicious transactions have been reported to the authorities. In 2017 and 2018, there was a little more attention to it, for fear that the terrorist organization would smuggle IS heritage from Syria and Iraq, but interest among the police quickly dwindled.
After the investigation cell ART, which investigated art crime at the Belgian federal police, was closed down, from 2015 only one detective and one assistant remained for the whole of Belgium to coordinate the fight against this type of crime. “The art and antiques sector in Belgium has benefited from that laxity,” says one expert. “We are not aware of any cases that have led to the conviction of an antique dealer.”