ABIDJAN: The Djidji Ayokwe “talking drum”, which was looted by French colonial troops in 1916 and taken to France, arrived back in Ivory Coast on Friday, in the latest repatriation of stolen artefacts.

The wooden drum, more than three metres long and weighing 430 kilos, was used by the Ebrie tribe to transmit messages.

It was officially handed over on Feb 20 after France’s parliament approved removing the artefact from the national museum collections to enable its return.

Ivory Coast had asked in late 2018 for the return of the Djidji Ayokwe among 148 works of art taken during the colonial period.

It arrived aboard a specially chartered plane at Ivory Coast’s main city Abidjan and remained inside a huge wooden crate stamped “fragile”.

“It’s a historic day and I feel deep emotion,” Culture Minister Francoise Remarck said, welcoming its arrival at the airport, where the Ebrie community also sang and played drums.

“We are living a moment of justice and remembrance,” the minister added.

French President Emmanuel Macron promised in 2021 to send the drum and other artefacts back home to the west African country.

It is one of hundreds of objects France is preparing to send back to Africa, with the efforts set to be accelerated by the passing of a new law to authorise mass repatriations.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2026