Nigeria will receive 113 Benin Bronzes, originally looted by the British, from the Netherlands. The plaques, personal ornaments and figures, currently housed in the collection of Wereldmuseum Leiden, came into the possession of the Dutch State Collection at some point during their violent removal in 1897.
They were identified in a restitution report and the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments subsequently filed for their return, the BBC reports. Also heading back to Nigeria is a bell, three relief plaques, a coconut casing and a staff, currently held by the municipality of Rotterdam.
The antiquities are part of a wider collection that once decorated the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin, in what is now Edo State, Nigeria. They were the spoils of a British expedition to overthrow Oba Ovonramwen Nogbaisi (Overami). Nine hundred more of the bronzes remain in the collection of the British Museum.
Eppo Bruins, the Dutch Minister of Education, Culture and Science, said ‘This restitution contributes to redressing a historical injustice that is still being felt today. Cultural heritage is essential for telling and living the history of a country and a community. The Benin Bronzes are indispensable to Nigeria. It is good that they are going back.’
Olugible Holloway, director-general of the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments, said: ‘The return from the Netherlands will represent the single largest return of Benin antiquities directly linked to the 1897 British punitive expedition. We thank the Netherlands for their cooperation and hope this will set a good example for other nations of the world in terms of repatriation of lost or looted antiquities.’
The Dutch are currently in talks with Sri Lanka, India and Indonesia about other objects in their collection with controversial histories.
