Germany has handed over 21 Benin bronzes to Nigeria, artefacts looted by British soldiers from the Kingdom of Benin 125 years ago and later sold to German museums. The handover ceremony in Abuja on Tuesday was marked by celebration but also audible frustration with Britain, which holds the largest collection of such items at the British Museum but has resisted restitution efforts.
The objects, including a brass head of an oba (king), a ceremonial sword, and a throne depicting a coiled python, were taken during a British punitive expedition in 1897. They were flown to Nigeria via a German air force plane after being legally transferred to Nigeria on 1 July. Germany's foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, handed over a miniature ivory mask of the Iyoba (queen mother) to Nigeria's culture minister, Lai Mohammed.
Speaking at the event, Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo state, said: 'Britain has most of the works, and we thought they would provide leadership. They were the ones who came here and destroyed the empire, they were the ones who looted pieces from here, and they should be leading in restitution.' Mohammed added that he had hoped Germany's move would encourage the UK to open talks, but 'I met a brick wall'.
While some British institutions, such as the Horniman Museum, have returned individual bronzes, the British Museum has not. France returned 26 objects to the Republic of Benin in 2021, but these are the first government-led repatriation of Benin bronzes. Germany's culture commissioner, Claudia Roth, called the handover 'a turning point in international cultural policy'.
