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Looted art Swiss museums return Benin objects once looted from Nigeria

SDA

20.3.2026 - 17:00

The Uhunmwu-Ẹkuẹ pendant mask was looted at the end of the 19th century in what was then the Kingdom of Benin (now Nigeria) and later came to the Rietberg Museum in Zurich. The pendant mask is one of the Benin objects that will now be returned to Nigeria.
The Uhunmwu-Ẹkuẹ pendant mask was looted at the end of the 19th century in what was then the Kingdom of Benin (now Nigeria) and later came to the Rietberg Museum in Zurich. The pendant mask is one of the Benin objects that will now be returned to Nigeria.
Keystone

Two museums in Zurich and one in Geneva are returning a total of 28 objects from their collections to Nigeria. These so-called Benin bronzes can be traced back to the raid by the British colonial army in 1897.

Keystone-SDA

20.03.2026, 17:00

The Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zurich is returning 14 objects to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Rietberg Museum in Zurich eleven and the Musée d'ethnographie de la Ville de Genève a further three. The corresponding agreement was signed in Zurich on Friday. Olugbile Holloway, Director General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) in Nigeria, was also present.

The NCMM had officially submitted restitution applications in 2024 and 2025 on behalf of the Nigerian government. And in Switzerland, museums have previously researched the provenance of their Benin works as part of the Benin Initiative Switzerland (BIS). This work has revealed that the objects that are now being returned were "secured or in all probability" once looted.

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