Switzerland repatriates renowned Benin artifacts to their Nigerian homeland

In a significant ceremony held at the National Museum in Lagos on Monday, Swiss authorities returned 18 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, marking a notable addition to the country's growing collection of repatriated treasures.

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Countries across Africa have been actively pushing for the restitution of artefacts and artworks taken during the colonial period, with Nigeria's famed Benin Bronzes being a prime example, having been looted as spoils of war by the British and now scattered in museums and private collections worldwide.

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The Benin Bronzes were taken from the royal palace in the Kingdom of Benin, in what is now part of modern-day Nigeria, after British forces attacked Benin City in 1897, resulting in the loss of hundreds of priceless sculptures and plaques.

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Nigeria's culture minister, Hannatu Musa Musawa, noted that Monday's restitution represents the return of "evidence of civilisation that already mastered bronze casting to a standard of technical, artistic and extremely intricate sophistication" before colonisation.

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The handover included a bronze bracelet and four Ikom monoliths from the Niger Delta region, which were "seized in Switzerland as part of criminal proceedings and subsequently transferred to the state", according to Switzerland's federal department of home affairs.

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The returned bronzes originated from the Ethnographic Museum at the University of Zurich, the Museum Rietberg, and the Musee d’Ethnographie de Geneve.

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Elisabeth Baume-Schneider, a Swiss federal councillor, acknowledged that "the artefacts returned today carry a painful history" and were removed from the Kingdom of Benin as a result of "violence, looting and deeply unequal power relations".

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Western museums, including those in Britain, the Netherlands, and Germany, have returned several hundred African artefacts in recent years, but it is believed that hundreds more are still missing, with some locations known but museums and governments refusing to return them.

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Restitution efforts have also faced challenges within Nigeria, with government authorities and Benin's traditional rulers sometimes at odds over who should possess the bronzes, as seen in the delayed opening of the Museum of West African Art in Benin City last year due to protests.

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Alice Hertzog, director of the Ethnographic Museum at the University of Zurich, stated that the bronzes "never should have been in Switzerland in the first place", having been cared for and preserved but never truly belonging to the museum.

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Hertzog noted that the bronzes "have graced our exhibition halls, they featured on our posters and in our publications", but ultimately, "they were never ours to keep".

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Nigeria's culture minister, Musawa, urged "every single nation holding African heritage" to follow Switzerland's example and return the artefacts to their rightful owners.