In a quiet gallery in the Dutch city of Leiden, museum staff are carefully wrapping centuries-old Benin Bronzes in layers of protective material.

Wearing blue surgical gloves, one worker delicately lifts a bronze plaque from its mount, cushions it on a soft pillow, and begins the process of preparing it for its long-overdue journey back to it’s original home in Nigeria.

This June, 113 Benin Bronzes—intricately cast artefacts looted from the ancient Kingdom of Benin in 1897, will be returned to Nigeria by the Wereldmuseum (World Museum) in the Netherlands. The return represents the single largest repatriation of Benin Bronzes to date.

“These don’t belong here. They were violently taken, so they need to go back,” said Marieke van Bommel, the museum’s director told AFP, “This is a typical example of looted art.”

The bronzes, part of a much larger cache of royal objects seized during a brutal British military raid on Benin City, have long symbolised the painful legacy of colonial plunder. In retaliation for the deaths of nine British officers on a trade mission, the British launched a full-scale punitive expedition, razing the city, killing thousands, and carting away sacred artworks and cultural treasures. Many of these pieces were auctioned off across Europe to finance the expedition.

Over a century later, the road to restitution remains bumpy. While the Netherlands has committed to returning 119 bronzes in total, including six from Rotterdam, other institutions have been more reluctant. Germany has initiated its own returns, but the British Museum in London, which houses one of the largest collections of Benin Bronzes, has so far refused to hand any back, citing a 1963 law that prohibits deaccessioning objects in its collection.

Still, Van Bommel believes the Dutch decision could set a precedent.

“We hope other countries will follow this example,” she said. “I think it’s now broadly agreed that these works don’t belong in European museums.”

The Leiden museum has a growing track record of returning colonial-era artefacts. It has already repatriated looted items to Indonesia, Mexico, and indigenous communities in the United States. With the Benin Bronzes, a deal has been struck to retain four of the items on long-term loan to the museum, allowing Dutch audiences to engage with their history and the broader debate on restitution.

“We want to talk about the expedition and the whole subject of restitution,” Van Bommel added. “And we’ll also be updating the gallery with a new display of contemporary art.”

In Nigeria, the bronzes will be handed over to the Oba of Benin, in line with a 2023 directive by former President Muhammadu Buhari that the royal court should receive the repatriated items, and not the federal government.

As the crates are packed and labelled, the return is more than a symbolic gesture, this mid-June return marks a step toward cultural justice, and perhaps a nudge to other institutions still holding on to Africa’s looted past. (BusinessDay)

•The 113 Benin Bronzes represent the largest single return of the treasures looted in 1897 © Freek VAN DEN BERGH / ANP/AFP