UK Museum Agrees to Return Looted Benin Bronzes to Nigeria

London's Horniman Museum has said that 72 artifacts would be handed over to the Nigerian government. Among them are 12 brass plaques, known as Benin Bronzes, a brass cockerel altarpiece, ivory and brass ceremonial objects, brass bells, and a key to the king's palace.

The decision comes as European institutions come under increasing pressure to repatriate artifacts that were stolen during the colonial era.

 Thousands of treasures, sculptures, and other artworks - many of them dating from the 16th to the 18th centuries - were looted by British colonists who attacked and occupied Benin City at the end of the 19th century.

The Nigerian government has stepped up its demands in recent years for European countries to hand back the Benin Bronzes. It ultimately plans to build a museum in Benin City, in the southern Edo state, to house the recovered treasures.

In Juy 2022, Nigeria and Germany signed a deal to begin the return of hundreds of Benin Bronzes - the biggest effort yet by a European country to give back the looted artworks. In 2021, France handed over 26 pieces, known as the Abomey Treasures, that French forces looted from the 19th century Dahomey kingdom in present-day Benin.