Nigeria’s decades-long effort to recover stolen cultural heritage gained fresh momentum on Monday as 18 Benin Kingdom artefacts were returned from Switzerland, alongside five additional objects repatriated by the Swiss government.
The artefacts, which include religious and ceremonial objects from the famed Benin Bronzes collection, were looted during the British invasion of Benin in 1897.
The handover ceremony took place at the National Museum in Lagos, where the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) formally received the items on behalf of the Federal Government.
Fourteen of the returned artefacts came from the Ethnographic Museum at the University of Zurich, two from the Museum Rietberg Zurich, and two from the Musée d’Ethnographie de Genève (MEG).
The restitution followed years of provenance research conducted under the Benin Initiative Switzerland, which established the historical circumstances surrounding the removal of the objects.
In addition to the Benin Bronzes, Switzerland also returned a bronze bracelet and four archaeological monoliths from Nigeria’s Niger Delta region, which had been seized during criminal proceedings and subsequently transferred to the state.
At the ceremony, Swiss Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider and Nigeria’s Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa, signed an agreement on the transfer of cultural property. The accord reinforces bilateral cooperation on the prevention of illicit trafficking and the restitution of cultural assets.
The agreement provides a legal framework for collaboration on the protection of cultural heritage, including measures to curb illegal trade and facilitate future repatriations.
Officials said the returns form part of broader international efforts to address historical injustices and strengthen long-term cultural partnerships between both countries.
The artefacts are regarded as central to the historical memory, spiritual life and artistic heritage of the communities from which they were taken. Their return, officials said, will enable Nigerian institutions, researchers, artists and the public to study and interpret them within their original cultural context.
Some of the items are expected to be displayed at the National Museum in Lagos, while the majority will be relocated to their place of origin in Edo State.
The ceremony was attended by NCMM Director-General Olugbile Holloway, representatives of the Swiss Federal Office of Culture, and directors of the three participating Swiss museums: Alice Hertzog of the Ethnographic Museum at the University of Zurich, Annette Bhagwati of Museum Rietberg Zurich, and Carine Durand of MEG.
