The Netherlands Returns 119 Stolen Sculptures to Nigeria Arts and Culture News

Benin bronze was an artifact stolen during the plunder of the British Empire Benin, the modern Nigerian empire.

The Netherlands officially retook 119 ancient sculptures stolen from the former Nigerian Kingdom of Nigeria more than 120 years ago during the colonial era.

Olugbile Holloway, director of the Nigerian National Museum and Memorial Committee, said on Saturday that the artificiality was “an embodiment of the spirit and identity of the people they were taken.”

“All we ask the world is to treat us with fairness, dignity and respect,” he said at a ceremony held at the National Museum in Lagos.

Holloway added that Germany has also agreed to return more than 1,000 additional works.

The artifact, known as Benin Bronze, is the latest return of valuable history to Africa as Western government pressures increase to return items taken during imperialism.

Four crafts are displayed in the museum’s courtyard, remaining in the museum’s permanent collection, while others will be returned to Benin’s Oba of Euare II, the traditional ruler of the Benin Kingdom in southern Nigeria.

Benin bronze contains metal and ivory carvings dating back to the 16th and 18th centuries.

The item was stolen in 1897 when British forces under the command of Ir Henry Lawson, plundering the Kingdom of Benin (modern Nigeria) and forced the then monarch Ovon Lamwen Nogbaisi to be a six-month exile.

In 2022, Nigeria officially requested the return of hundreds of objects from museums around the world. In the same year, about 72 objects were returned from the London Museum, and 31 were returned from Rhode Island, USA.