Setting the Scene for Nigeria’s Looted Treasures

A museum in London is to return 72 treasured artefacts, including its collection of Benin bronzes, to Nigeria in what experts described as an “immensely significant” moment. The Horniman museum said it would transfer the ownership of the historic objects to the Nigerian government after an unanimous vote by its board of trustees. It makes the Horniman, which won museum of the year in July, the first government-funded institution to hand back treasures looted by British forces from Benin city in 1897. The Nigerian government made a request for the objects in January. The country is planning to house repatriated bronzes in the Edo Museum of West African Art, due to open in 2025. The collection includes 12 ancient brass plaques, known as Benin bronzes. Other objects include a brass cockerel altar piece, ivory and brass ceremonial objects, brass bells, everyday items such as fans and baskets, and a key “to the king’s palace”. About 10,000 objects looted during the raid on Benin are held in 165 museums and many private collections across the world. The British Museum in London holds 900 objects, the largest collection in the world. Oxford and Cambridge Universities announced last week that they would return more than 200 between them.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN