The Horniman Museum has announced that it will transfer ownership of the historic artefacts to the Nigerian government following a unanimous vote by its board of directors. It makes Horniman, which won museum of the year in July, the first government-funded institution to hand over treasures looted by British forces from Benin City in 1897. About 10,000 objects looted during the Benin raid are held in 165 museums and many private collections around the world. The British Museum in London houses 900 objects, the largest collection in the world. A fan from the museum’s collection was among the items taken from Benin City by British troops in February 1897. Photo: The Horniman Museum/PA The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge announced last week that they would return more than 200 between them. Eve Salomon, president of the Horniman museum, said: “The evidence is very clear that these objects were obtained by force and external consultation has supported our view that it is ethical and right to return their ownership to Nigeria.” The museum board’s decision follows a consultation with London’s Nigerian community, which began in 2020 after activists added Horniman to the ‘Topple the Racists’ database of sites and monuments linked to colonialism. The Nigerian government made a request for the items in January. The country plans to house the repatriated bronzes in the West African Edo Museum of Art, which is due to open in 2025. The collection includes 12 ancient brass plates, known as Benin bronzes. Other items include a brass rooster altar piece, ivory and brass ceremonial objects, brass bells, everyday items such as fans and baskets, and a key “to the king’s palace”. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST Professor Dan Hicks, professor of modern archeology at the University of Oxford, described the announcement as “hugely significant”. He said: “It comes hot on the heels of the announcement from Oxford and Cambridge. It was the biggest commitment we had seen from the UK so far. “What is important about Horniman’s news is the nature of the museum – their relationship to the [the government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport] regarding their financing [and] is an important museum of London. “Until now it has been individual items one at a time, in stark contrast to the over 1,100 pledged to be returned by the German federal government.” Hicks, who listed the 165 institutions that hold the Benin bronzes in his British Museums book, said the move would increase pressure on the British Museum to change its position on returning the objects. The British Museum has resisted calls to return the 900 Benin artefacts it holds, speaking only of “research and cultural exchange initiatives” in Nigeria. But experts have questioned how long that line can last. Hicks said: “With every day of inaction and every day that they try to hold on to these old arguments, they just become more and more irrelevant. Inaction, in this context, is an action – it’s a choice they can’t at least tell us what they have.”
