Article 6 is titled: ‘Provisions Concerning the Protection of Natives, Missionaries and Travellers, and Religious Freedoms’. It states: All Powers exercising sovereign rights or influence in the said territories undertake to supervise the preservation of the native population and the improvement of their moral and material condition of life, and […] [to] favour undertakings created and organized for that purpose, or aimed at educating the natives and making them understand and appreciate the advantages of civilization.
Article 6 was followed by a sentence of great significance for the posterity of all European museums but which is rarely quoted: ‘Christian missionaries, scientists and explorers, with their followers, property and collections, shall likewise be the objects of especial protection’.
Hen focusses on a colonial agent, Gustav Conrau, who was accused by the Bangwa of human trafficking, theft and smuggling of the Bangwa Queen and LEFEM spiritual artefacts.
