by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman
January 6, 2026
The museum will return the gadgets in an settlement with the Nigeria’s Nationwide Fee for Museums and Monuments.
A Dutch museum will repatriate its portion of the Benin Bronzes to their rightful dwelling in Nigeria.
In line with Good Information Community, the Museum Volkenkunde will return the 119 artifacts that originally belonged to the outdated Kingdom of Benin. The dominion’s origins lie in modern-day Nigeria, not the fashionable nation of Benin, because the West African nation plans to just accept the stolen gadgets again into its rightful possession.
The British took the famed bronze statues within the nineteenth century, and the British Museum nonetheless holds the vast majority of them. The tons of of stolen artifacts grew to become a significant level within the concern of looted artwork, with the gadgets unfold throughout the Western artwork world. In 2022, Nigeria despatched out formal requests to museums to return the stolen gadgets.
Now, the Netherlands’ folks artwork museum has agreed to return its share of the gadgets to Nigeria’s Nationwide Fee for Museums and Monuments. The fee made an announcement concerning the “good instance” set by the Dutch, whereas hoping that they might affect different nations to comply with swimsuit on repatriation.
“We thank the Netherlands for his or her cooperation and hope this can set instance for different nations of the world when it comes to repatriation of misplaced or looted antiquities,” Olugible Holloway, the fee’s director, mentioned in an announcement obtained by Euro Information.
The Dutch tradition and training minister additionally issued an announcement concerning the significance of returning the Benin Bronzes. Calling them “indispensable” to Nigerian historical past and tradition, the federal government official thought-about the repatriation an act of worldwide accountability.
“Cultural heritage is important for telling and residing the historical past of a rustic and a group,” Eppo Bruins, the Dutch tradition and training minister, mentioned. “The Benin Bronzes are indispensable to Nigeria. It’s good that they’re going again.”
Within the U.S., a number of the statues are presently on show on the Smithsonian Establishment. Nonetheless, following Nigeria’s public request, the museum entered a mortgage settlement to maintain 9 of those statues on show till the top of 2026.
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