Netherlands to return 119 artifacts of the Benin sacked in Nigeria on June 21 – Thage

By Ayo Kehinde

The government of the Netherlands has announced the intention of returning 119 artifacts of the Benin sacked by the city of Benin during the notorious British expedition of 1897.

According to a declaration issued by the Dutch Embassy in Nigeria, the official delivery ceremony will take place on June 21, 2025, at the National Museum of Lagos.

The articles will subsequently be transferred to their final home at the National Museum of Benin City, in the state of Edo.

The artifacts, collectively known as Bronzes Benin, were seized during a punitive expedition by a British force of about 1,200 men led by Admiral Sir Harry Rawson.

The sacked treasures were subsequently sold, with many finished in private collections and European museums, including the Wereldmuseum in the Netherlands, where they were exhibited for decades.

The imminent repatriation follows a February declaration of Bengt Van Loosdrech, the Dutch ambassador designated in Nigeria, who said that the artifacts “would never have had to end up in the Netherlands”.

The General Manager of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), Olugible Holloway, described the move as the “largest repatriation of antiquity of Benin” to date.

Despite their collective name, the artifacts are not all bronze events.

They include a diversified collection of cultural and historical objects such as ivory masks, sculpted zanne, gifts and sculptures that depict the royalty of Benin.

Most of the works date back between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries, which represent centuries of rich artistic heritage from the ancient Kingdom of Benin.

The return of the artifacts marks another significant step in the efforts in progress of Nigeria to recover its cultural heritage stolen from institutions and collectors from all over the world.

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