Nigeria Calls on British Museum to Repatriate Stolen 19th Century Benin Bronzes

Increasing numbers of artifacts of Nigerian origin that ended up scattered over the globe due to the 19th-century colonial wars have recently been returned home. However, not every institution is willing to return looted exhibits: the British Museum says repatriation is impossible due to UK law.

Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed has called on the British Museum to repatriate Benin artifacts stolen from the territory of modern-day Nigeria during the 19th-century colonial wars, emphasizing his ministry's formal request last year, the Guardian reported.

Mohammed supplemented his call by expressing gratitude to the US Smithsonian Institution and Germany's Foundation of Prussian Cultural Heritage which recently returned 29 and two Benin bronzes, respectively. The bronzes are 13th-century metal sculptures previously used to decorate the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin, which is modern-day Nigeria.

“They should learn from what has happened today and what happened in Germany,” Mohammed told the Guardian, referring to the ceremony at the US National Museum of African Art on repatriation of Benin Bronzes this Tuesday.

The minister explained that British deputies denied his repatriation request, claiming that the deaccession of the museum’s artifacts is prohibited by UK law.

“They used the law as a shield. This is not about law; this is about ethics,” Mohammed said. “I told them the last time I was in London: it’s not if, it’s when. They will eventually have to return these because the campaign is gaining strength by the day and, when they look at what other museums are doing, they will be compelled to return them.”

The Benin bronzes were stolen during a British raid on the Benin Kingdom in 1897. The British plundered and burned the royal palace, embezzling all the royal treasures, including the bronzes. The British also burned the kingdom itself to the ground in response to the killing of several British officials, including Captain James Phillips, who had demanded control over Benin's palm oil and rubber trade.

Most of the treasures were placed on auction in London and ended up being scattered around the world in different museums and private collections, including in the US and Germany. The Smithsonian Institution and the Foundation of Prussian Cultural Heritage obtained the bronzes through purchase, transfer, donation and bequest.

In Search of the Stolen Legacy

More than six decades after independence, the Nigerian government is actively working to return the stolen artifacts. Historically, European authorities declined repatriation requests, alleging that it was impossible to determine who the original owners were.

Likewise, the Europeans sometimes refused to repatriate exhibits expressing concerns that they might not be properly managed, according to Al-Jazeera, citing Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments Director General Abba Isa Tijani.

In 2020, Nigerians formed the Legacy Restoration Trust which is responsible for negotiations with foreign museums.

Nowadays, the bronzes, among other historical items, are slowly returning home. In particular, 72 Benin bronzes were handed over to the Nigerian government by the London-based Horniman Museum and Gardens this August.

The request was granted after a topic-related investigation conducted by the British, which concluded that there were certain ethical considerations including the way the artifacts had been acquired.

However, the British Museum is not in a hurry to follow suit, referring to the 1963 British Museum Act that prohibits restitution and the 1983 Heritage Act which restricts the removal of objects of heritage.