Chaos erupted on Tuesday morning at the ever-busy Oba Ovonramwen Square, popularly known as Ring Road in Benin City, Edo State, as market women from Oba Market staged a protest against an eviction notice issued by the state government ahead of planned renovation work on the fire-ravaged section of the market.

The women blocked the major road, causing heavy gridlock and forcing traffic to be diverted to adjoining streets.

Their protesters later moved to the Edo State House of Assembly, where they sought government intervention.

Oba Market was among five markets gutted by fire at the wake of the 2020 governorship election in Edo State.

The immediate past governor, Godwin Obaseki, had promised to rebuild the affected markets, a pledge that was not fulfilled, leaving the burnt portions to deteriorate into waste dumps.

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However, Governor Monday Okpebholo, during a recent visit to the market, vowed to rebuild the gutted areas.

Following his visit, the market women were issued a two-month notice to vacate the premises for renovation.

Speaking during the protest, Mrs. Florence Eweka, said the women were taken by surprise by the sudden directive for all traders to leave the market.

According to her, “the problem was that they announced that they want to rebuild the gutted part of the market close to Bob Izua Park.

“They have started working on it, but they just announced that all the market women should leave the market. Where do you want them to go? There should be a preparation to where to go before you send them out.

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“The Ekiosa Market they are rebuilding has not been completed yet. Those ones are in trouble, they are stranded, where do you want us to go? Prepare a place for them before moving them out of this place,” She said.

Another trader, Mrs. Mary Okosun, who operates four shops with six employees, also questioned where she was expected to relocate.

“I have four shops in the market, with six workers, where do you want me to take those wares to? How do you want those persons to feed from? They are asking us to leave here by the end of January.

“Where do they want us to pack? If they want us to pack, they should make provisions for us. Those in other markets are stranded; where do they want us to pack?” she said.

Addressing the protesters, Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Hon. Blessing Agbebaku, appealed for calm, assuring the women that their concerns would be conveyed to Governor Okpebholo.

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He said the governor’s intention was to rebuild the market for the benefit of the traders.

“We are your representatives, and any problem that is brought before us here will be sorted out. The governor of Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo, meant well for that your market, because those areas gutted by fire have been turned into toilets. He wants to renovate the market. But you are saying that not all the markets were gutted.

“So we are going to pass the information to him. The area that was burned down will be first rebuilt, then you people will move in there, then the other parts will be rebuilt. The governor wants a better market for you all,” he said.

The Museum of Fine Arts in the US city of Boston has returned two of the famed Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, authorities in the West African nation said late on Monday.

The move represents “the return of a huge part of Nigeria’s history,” Olugbile Holloway, the head of Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), said.

“As much as this occasion is symbolic to Benin, it is also symbolic to Nigeria’s struggle,” he added.

The Benin Bronzes are hundreds of sculptures and plaques that were looted from the royal palace in the Kingdom of Benin, part of modern-day Nigeria, after British forces captured Benin City in 1897.

The priceless artworks, believed to have been crafted in Benin starting in the 1500s, were taken as spoils of war and today are scattered in museums and private collections across the world.

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Western museums, including those in Britain, the Netherlands and Germany, have returned several hundred of the artefacts, but hundreds more are believed to be still missing.

Benin’s traditional rulers and Nigerian authorities have for years been negotiating their return.

Calling the returns from the Boston museum a “historic moment”, Nigeria’s culture minister, Hannatu Musa Musawa, said those “conversations” were ongoing “and soon, the process of returning them all to their rightful owners will begin.”

The Benin Bronzes have been a source of tension within Nigeria, with Benin’s traditional ruler, the Oba, insisting that the artefacts belong to him as the ruler of Benin and the descendant of the royal family from whose palace they were plundered.

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Last week, Britain and South Africa returned to a Ghanaian traditional king over 130 gold and bronze artefacts taken between the 1870s and the early 20th century, his palace announced.

Asante king Otumfuo Osei Tutu II received the artefacts at the Manhyia Palace Museum in the Asante capital Kumasi on Sunday, a royal statement said.

The items included royal regalia, drums and ceremonial gold weights and depict governance systems, spiritual beliefs and the role of gold in Asante society.

Their return comes as pressure mounts on Western museums and institutions to address the restitution of African artefacts plundered by colonial powers such as Britain, France, Germany and Belgium.

READ ALSO:Benin Monarch Receives 119 Stolen Artefacts, Says Efforts To Re-loot Thwarted

At the ceremony, the Asante king thanked AngloGold Ashanti, a South African mining company, for returning several items purchased on the open market. The mining giant returned some artefacts to Ghana in 2024.

The latest repatriation included 110 artefacts from the Barbier-Muller Museum collection in Geneva, assembled by collector Josef Muller in 1904.

Twenty-five other items were donated by British art historian Hermione Waterfield, who established the Tribal Art Department at Christie’s in 1971.

According to art historian and Manhyia Palace Museum director Ivor Agyeman-Duah, Waterfield’s gifts included a wooden drum believed to have been seized during the 1900 siege of Kumasi by British forces.

In 2024, the Manhyia Palace Museum received 67 restituted or loaned cultural objects from institutions including London’s British Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum and the Fowler Museum in Los Angeles.

The Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ethiope East Local Council, Delta State, Mr Ese Idisi, murdered.

Idisi was killed by unidentified assailants in the Okpara Waterside community, a development that has sent shockwaves through political and community circles.

The killing has sparked outrage and deep concern within the APC in Delta State.

The party, in a strongly worded statement, described Idisi’s death as a “brutal and condemnable killing” that has devastated its state chapter.

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In the statement, the APC State Publicity Secretary, Mr Valentine Onojeghuo, called on security agencies to conduct a “thorough, uncompromising, and professional investigation” into what he described as a “cruel and senseless murder.”

He insisted that “the perpetrators, sponsors, and anyone connected to this heinous act must be identified, apprehended, and brought to justice without delay. Nothing short of a full-scale investigation will suffice in the prevailing circumstances.”

The party extended its condolences to Idisi’s family, describing him as a loyal, committed, and dependable party stalwart whose death had created a painful void in his community and within APC’s Ethiope East Ward 4.

“His death is not just a loss; it is a heavy blow that has plunged the Party into mourning,” he added.

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The spokesperson for the Delta State Police Command, SP Bright Edafe, confirmed the incident.

He said the command received a report of the killing and had opened an investigation.

“We got a report that he was murdered and we are presently investigating,” Edafe said, adding that details surrounding the incident remained unclear as of press time.