Germany hands over 20 artifacts looted during the colonial era to Nigeria.
Germany agreed last year to begin returning the Benin Bronzes held in its museums.
Reuters - Germany has handed over 20 Benin bronzes from its museums to Nigeria, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Tuesday, becoming the latest European country to return cultural artifacts to its African homeland.
These deliveries are the clearest sign yet of a growing push for the return of artifacts taken from Africa by Europeans during the colonial period. Germany agreed to begin returning the Benin Bronzes held in its museums last year.
This year, Germany signed a declaration with Nigeria to release all 1.130 Benin Bronzes – copper alloy relief sculptures, many depicting court figures – into German public museums.
The Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, and the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, were present at the handover ceremony, which was also attended by the German Minister of Culture and Media, Claudia Roth, as well as museum directors in Germany.
“Today we are taking a step that was already expected: we are returning 20 Benin bronzes from German museums to where they belong, to their homeland,” Baerbock told reporters in Abuja.
Some of Benin's bronze artifacts have been in German custody for nearly two centuries, with some in private collections and casinos, Nigerian officials said.
The returns will likely increase the pressure on the British Museum in London, which holds by far the largest and most significant collection of Benin bronzes.
Nigeria's information minister has asked the British Museum to release the more than 900 Benin bronzes it holds.