Artefacts looted by British troops during the Benin raid could be repatriated to Nigeria

A report has said that the University of Oxford has in their possession 145 objects looted by British troops during an attack on Benin in 1897 that are potentially going to be repatriated to Nigeria. 

Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum owns two-thirds of the stolen artefacts, some of which include plaques, carved ivory tusks, bronze figures, jewellery, and ceramic and coral objects dating back to the 13th century.

The report by Dan Hicks, a curator at the museum said: “The work of restitution begins in part with the sharing of knowledge.”

The report added that “the restitution of African cultural heritage is of the utmost importance in the 2020s.”

The report also concluded that the 145 objects at the Pitt Rivers museum only represented 1.5% of the artefacts stolen during the raid.

It is estimated that over 100,000 artefacts were stolen during the raid, and these are kept at 165 museums and private collections around the world.

We look forward to a similar return of our artefacts by other institutions that are in possession of them

–Lai Mohammed

The report read: “The chaotic theft of royal and sacred artworks and other items by perhaps up to two hundred soldiers, sailors, and administrators during the sacking of Benin City in the British naval expedition of 1897 is one of the most well-known examples of the widespread practice of military looting by European troops in the later 19th and early 20th centuries.”

Both Cambridge and Aberdeen Universities have become the first British institutions to return Benin bronzes to Nigeria.

In a statement earlier this year on the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford University said that they were “working with Nigerian stakeholders … to identify best ways forward regarding the care and return of these objects”.

They added that their work with Nigerian stakeholders was to “identify collections that were taken as part of military violence or looting, or otherwise contentious circumstances and engage in conversations with external partners about the future care of these objects”.

Nigeria’s minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed said: “We look forward to a similar return of our artefacts by other institutions that are in possession of them.”