Nigeria celebrates return of precious Benin bronzes stolen during colonial era

“It took more than a century for them to finally return home,” notes Euro News .

The Netherlands officially returned to Nigeria on Saturday, June 21, 119 ancient sculptures, Benin bronzes, stolen from the former kingdom of Benin more than 120 years ago during the colonial era.

This is the latest return of artifacts in Africa, as pressure mounts on Western governments and institutions to return loot stolen during colonial rule. The bronzes “include metal and ivory sculptures dating from the 16th to 18th centuries,” Al-Jazeera said .

The Nigerian government celebrated the return of these priceless pieces with a ceremony at the National Museum in Lagos, the economic capital, displaying four pieces in the museum's courtyard. The selection included "the bust of a monarch, an elephant tusk, and a leopard cub," reports the Nigerian daily The Guardian , which published a series of photos of the sculptures .

In the 19th century, the British army stole thousands of Benin bronzes from the eponymous kingdom, which was then independent and “which today corresponds to southern Nigeria,” Al-Jazeera said.

These were subsequently dispersed to museums and private collections in Europe and the United States. The four bronzes presented Saturday in Lagos will remain in the museum's collection. The others will be returned to the Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, the traditional ruler of the kingdom.

Nigerian Minister of Culture, Hannatu Musa Musawa, who signed the restitution document with the Dutch Ambassador for International Cultural Cooperation, Dewi van de Weerd, said on Saturday that “Nigeria must reclaim its history and heritage.”

At the same ceremony, Olugbile Holloway, the director general of the country's National Commission for Museums and Monuments, announced that Germany had agreed to return more than a thousand additional Benin bronzes to Nigeria.

The British Museum in London still refuses to return part of its famous collection, citing a law passed in 1963 that prevents the museum from returning its treasures.