Colourful posters of some artefacts expected to be received by the Oba of Benin have adorned some major streets of Benin City ahead of the ceremony on Monday.

The posters, which also carried the photograph of Oba Ewaure II,were displayed in strategic streets, including Airport Road.

The city has been in a festive mood since the presidential directive to return the artefacts to the place they were looted from during the Benin invasion in 1897.

Some of the Benin artworks were recently repatriated from Jesus College, University of Cambridge, and University of Aberdeen, Scotland, and handed over to the federal government.

The presidential directive to return the antiquities to the ancient palace of the Oba of Benin was made known by the secretary of Benin Traditional Council (BTC), Frank Irabor, in a press statement.

According to the statement, the handing over of the returned artefacts would take place at the Oba’s palace on December 13, 2021.

The statement explained that the event would also be used to mark the fifth-anniversary celebration of Oba Ewaure II on his ascension to the throne.

The anniversary was postponed in honour of the late Captain Idahosa Okunbo, who died on August 8.