New Delhi, March 14 -- France returned a sacred talking drum looted during the colonial period to Ivory Coast on Friday as part of a nearly decade-old effort by the French government to return cultural artifacts to African nations.

It was the first such return by France to Ivory Coast, and was part of a broader campaign among European and Western governments to return treasured objects after decades of resistance.

The Djidji Ayokwe, a massive carved wooden drum once used by the Atchan people of the Abidjan region to communicate between villages, was looted by French colonial authorities in 1916 and is among at least 140 looted artifacts Ivory Coast has asked France to return.

"This is a historic day and a moment of justice and remembra...