Nigeria’s long-running effort to recover looted cultural heritage gained fresh momentum as Switzerland returned 18 Benin Kingdom artefacts alongside additional items seized from Nigeria’s Niger Delta region.
The artefacts were formally handed over at a ceremony held at the National Museum in Lagos by the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), representing the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The returned items included renowned Benin bronzes, historically looted during the British invasion of Benin in 1897, and form part of a wider international effort to address historical injustices linked to cultural plunder.
Swiss authorities also returned a bronze bracelet and four archaeological monoliths previously seized during criminal investigations, reinforcing ongoing cooperation between both countries on cultural property recovery.
The restitution followed years of provenance research under the Benin Initiative Switzerland, involving museums in Zurich and Geneva that confirmed the origins of the artefacts and supported their return.
Officials from both countries signed an agreement on cultural property cooperation, aimed at strengthening efforts to combat illicit trafficking and streamline future repatriation processes.
Nigeria’s Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa, and Swiss Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider attended the ceremony, alongside representatives of museums involved in the return.
The National Commission for Museums and Monuments said some of the artefacts will be displayed in Lagos, while most will be transferred to their historical origin in Edo State, where they form part of the cultural identity of the Benin Kingdom.
