Following pressure to return antiquities acquired during the colonial era, a London Museum decided on Sunday to return a collection of Benin Bronzes stolen in the late 19th century from what is now Nigeria.

The Horniman Museum and Gardens in southeast London announced that it would provide the Nigerian government with a collection of 72 objects. The decision was made following discussions with local residents, artists, and schoolchildren in Nigeria and the U.K., as well as after the National Commission for Museums and Monuments of Nigeria formally requested the items’ repatriation earlier this year.

The museum’s board of trustees chair, Eve Salomon, said in a statement:

A tiny portion of the 3,000–5,000 objects captured from the Kingdom of Benin in 1897 when British troops invaded and occupied Benin City as Britain increased its political and economic sway in West Africa is represented by the Horniman Collection. More than 900 Beninian artefacts are housed in the British Museum alone, and 74 more are in National Museums Scotland. Some of them were given to museums all across the world.

The relics include plaques, animal and human figurines, and pieces of royal regalia created by artists who worked for the Beninese royal court in brass and bronze. Along with the metal sculptures, additional objects made of ivory, coral, wood, and other materials are occasionally referred to as Benin Bronzes.

A global reevaluation of colonialism and the exploitation of local inhabitants has led to an increase in the demands for the return of artefacts and human remains from nations like Nigeria, Egypt, and Greece as well as indigenous peoples from North America to Australia.

A recent agreement for the return of hundreds of Benin Bronze medals was signed by Nigeria and Germany. That came after French President Emmanuel Macron decided to sign over 26 pieces known as the Abomey Treasures last year. These precious works of art are from the 19th-century Dahomey empire, which is now Benin, a tiny nation to the west of Nigeria.

However, British institutions took longer to react.

The Federal Ministry of Information and Culture issued a written request for the return of artefacts in October of last year. According to the British Museum, talks have been ongoing with Nigerian authorities since at least 2018.

According to a statement on the British Museum’s website,

The Horniman Museum has ties to the Age of Empire as well, theGazetteNGR learnt.

When tea merchant Frederick Horniman made his collection of items from all around the world available for public viewing, the museum officially opened in 1890.

The museum started a “reset agenda” in the midst of the Black Lives Matter movement that aimed to “address long-standing concerns of racism and discrimination within our history and collections, and a determination to set ourselves on a more sustainable trajectory for the future.”

According to the museum’s website, Frederick Horniman took advantage of low pricing in the Chinese tea trade as a result of Britain’s opium sales in China and the employment of underpaid and occasionally forced labour.

The Horniman Museum is aware that some of the things it has been “obtained through colonial violence.”

These include a brass cockerel altarpiece, ivory and brass ceremonial items, brass bells, and a key to the king’s palace, as well as the Horniman Collection of Benin Bronzes, which consists of 12 brass plaques. The bronzes are currently on exhibit, coupled with information recognising their unjust position and forced deportation from Benin City.

According to the museum’s website,