Exploring Nigeria’s Looted Treasures: 120 Statues Set for Repatriation
In 2022, Nigeria made formal requests to museums around the world for the return of looted artifacts. Institutions in the UK, US, and Germany, have all sent back Benin Bronzes, but never has the nation received so many and at one time.
A museum in the Netherlands has announced it will return 119 bronze artifacts looted from the old Kingdom of Benin in West Africa.One of the most notorious and ongoing disputes over looted art during colonial activities, most of the hundreds of Benin Bronzes stolen from the kingdom by the British in the 19th century reside at the British Museum.Dozens have also made it across the Atlantic to institutions in the US, while dozens more were distributed around Europe.