The Wereldmuseum (World Museum) in Leiden, Netherlands has begun the process of removing 113 priceless Benin Bronzes from display as they prepare to return these cultural treasures to Nigeria, their country of origin.

Museum workers, wearing protective blue surgical gloves, are carefully unhooking the precious artifacts, wrapping them in special paper, and preparing them for their journey home after more than 128 years in foreign hands.

"These don't belong here. They were violently taken, so they need to go back," museum director Marieke van Bommel told AFP. "This is a typical example of looted art."

A Violent History

The Benin Bronzes were looted in 1897 during a British punitive expedition to the Kingdom of Benin, located in present-day Nigeria. After nine British officers were killed on a trade mission, British forces retaliated by deploying troops who killed thousands of locals, burned the capital city, and looted the royal palace.

The stolen artworks were subsequently sold to finance the expedition or auctioned to museums across Europe and the United States, where many remain today.

Growing Pressure for Restitution

The Netherlands has agreed to return a total of 119 bronzes, with six more coming from Rotterdam. Germany has also begun returning its collection of looted artifacts. However, the British Museum in London, which holds the largest collection of Benin Bronzes, has refused to return any, citing a 1963 law that prevents the museum from giving back the treasures.

"I think we all agree that this collection doesn't belong in European museums. We do hope that other countries will follow this example," Van Bommel said, emphasizing that the collection is priceless. "It's a cultural value, so we never put a price on it."

Future of the Bronzes

The artifacts will be shipped to Lagos in mid-June. Former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari declared in 2023 that the returned works would be given to the Oba — the traditional ruler — rather than to the Nigerian state.

There are plans to build a dedicated museum in Benin City in southern Edo state, where the bronzes will have pride of place. Meanwhile, the Wereldmuseum has negotiated to keep four of the bronzes on loan to continue educating visitors about their history and the subject of restitution.

The Leiden museum has also previously restored hundreds of pieces of colonial loot to Indonesia, a former Dutch colony, as well as to Mexico and a community in the United States, setting a precedent for cultural restitution globally.