The Netherlands will return 119 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, marking the latest European nation to repatriate looted African artifacts, the Dutch embassy in Abuja announced Wednesday.
The bronzes are among thousands of intricate sculptures and castings taken by British soldiers during the 1897 raid on the Kingdom of Benin, located in present-day southwestern Nigeria.
A formal agreement was signed between the Dutch education minister and the director of Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments. The artifacts are expected to arrive in Nigeria later this year.
The collection includes 113 bronzes from the Dutch State Collection, with the remaining pieces coming from the Municipality of Rotterdam.
“The Netherlands is returning the Benin Bronzes unconditionally, recognizing that they were looted during the British attack on Benin City in 1897 and should never have ended up in the Netherlands,” the embassy said in a statement.
Olugbile Holloway, director general of Nigeria’s museum commission, called the move the largest single repatriation of Benin Bronzes to date.