Cambridge under pressure to return Benin Bronzes as Nigeria promises museum display

Cambridge University is under pressure to return the Benin Bronzes it promised to Nigeria three years ago after Nigerian authorities said they would not disappear into the collection of a king.

The university has been assured that the treasures will be placed in a museum.

In 2022, Cambridge museums pledged to return a collection of 116 artefacts taken by British forces from the Kingdom of Benin, now part of Nigeria, in 1897.

Muhammadu Buhari, then the president of Nigeria, decreed that they would go to the Oba of Benin.

The oba is the historic leader of the Benin ethnic group, which initially created the bronzes, and his people believe him to have ancestral rights to them.

This prompted concerns that the ruler might keep them in his private collection, and in 2023 Cambridge paused the planned return.

Now Nigerian officials have pushed for their urgent return after promising that the treasures would be placed in a museum.

It comes after the Netherlands pledged to return 119 Benin artefacts, comprising 113 bronzes that are part of the Dutch state collection, and the remainder from the municipality of Rotterdam.

Olugbile Holloway, the director of Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), said: “The oba has given the NCMM the blessing to display, conserve and to pursue reparation of these objects. So, there is no more ambiguity.

“The return of these objects is not just about displaying them in the museum or taking care of them. It is about the dignity of our people and undoing the injustice of 1897.”

British troops launched a punitive expedition against the Kingdom of Benin in 1897 after trading officials were abused.

After capturing the capital, Benin City, troops looted the royal palace and took thousands of treasures, which were dispersed across Western museums and private collections.

Cambridge’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology came to hold 116 bronzes, which it pledged to return at the same time Oxford’s Pitt Rivers and Ashmolean museums promised to hand over their 97.

While Cambridge had delayed its return over concerns about what would happen to repatriated artefacts, Oxford’s case was held up by the Charity Commission.

The regulator is required to sign off any decision to give away artefacts held by a charity, such as a university. The case has still not been resolved.