Britain under increasing pressure to return bronze stolen during colonization

Published on :

This Thursday, 28 October, a ceremony took place at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland for the return of one of the statues stolen after the destruction of the ancient city of Edo, known today as Benin City, Nigeria. On Wednesday, a college at the University of Cambridge officially returned a bronze representing a rooster.

With our correspondent in Lagoshandjob liza fabian

While the British Museum continues to hesitate over the procedure to be followed to return – or not – the 900 or so bronzes of Benin to its possession, a British institution took the first steps on Wednesday in the presence of Nigerian officials.

Jesus College, affiliated with the University of Cambridge, returned to Nigeria on Wednesday with a statue representing “Okkur”, a majestic rooster, given to him by the father of a student in 1905.


Upon receiving this, the Director General of the National Museums and Monuments Commission of Nigeria felt that the British Museum had “ There is really no substitute for wanting to return the looted works which is expressed all over the world.

This Thursday, a statue representing the King of Benin was given to a delegation by the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, which acquired it at an auction in 1957.

The Vice Chancellor of the University estimated that ” Over the past forty years, Benin bronzes have become an important symbol of injustice. associated with the colonization.

Nigeria and Germany recently signed an agreement in principle for the return of more than a thousand items looted in the former Kingdom of Benin. His transfer is expected in the spring of 2022.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *