University of Cambridge has transferred ownership of 116 Benin artefacts, looted by British forces in 1897, to Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM).
The brass, ivory, and wooden items from the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MAA) will mostly return physically soon, under a management deal with the Benin Royal Palace. Seventeen pieces stay on three-year loan for public display, research, and study.
The move follows NCMM’s January 2022 claim, backed by the university’s Council and UK Charity Commission approval.
MAA Director Professor Nicholas Thomas said: “It has been immensely rewarding to engage in dialogue with colleagues from the National Commission of Museums and Monuments, members of the Royal Court, and Nigerian scholars, students and artists over the last ten years.
“Over the period, support has mounted, nationally and internationally, for the repatriation of artefacts that were appropriated in the context of colonial violence. This return has been keenly supported across the University community.”
The artefacts were seized during the British “Punitive Expedition” against Benin City after a trade dispute. Cambridge has collaborated with Nigerian stakeholders since 2018, including visits to the Oba and Royal Court, hosting the Benin Dialogue Group in 2017, and welcoming NCMM representatives in 2021.
NCMM Director-General Olugbile Holloway hailed the step: “This development marks a pivotal point in our dialogue with the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge and it is our hope that this will spur other museums to head in a similar direction.
“The return of cultural items for us is not just the return of the physical object, but also the restoration of the pride and dignity that was lost when these objects were taken in the first place.”
Holloway thanked Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy Hannatu Musawa for her support, aligning the repatriation with global museum trends in the UK, US, and Europe.
