Switzerland returns looted African artifacts

Switzerland has returned 18 cultural items to Nigeria, including Benin Bronzes stolen when British colonial forces raided the West African country in the 19th century, officials have said.

The handover took place at the National Museum in Lagos on Monday, where Nigerian Culture Minister Hannatu Musa Musawa and Swiss Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider also signed a bilateral agreement regulating the import, export, and repatriation of cultural property.

The agreement sets out procedures for the restitution of illegally imported cultural items and cooperation against illicit trafficking, according to the Swiss government.

Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) said that of the 18 artifacts returned, two came from the Rietberg Museum in Zurich, two from the Geneva Museum of Ethnography, and 14 from the Ethnographic Museum at the University of Zurich.

“The return of our cultural heritage marks more than the recovery of artefacts. It reflects the power of dialogue, trust, and international cooperation,” the Nigerian culture minister wrote on X.

The objects include royal heads, plaques, masks, bells, carved elephant tusks, a horseman figure, a commemorative bronze head, and an 18th-century ivory tusk from royal ancestral shrines. They were among thousands of cultural and ceremonial artifacts looted by British troops from the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin, in present-day Nigeria, in 1897, according to the authorities.

The Swiss government said last week that five archaeological artifacts seized in Geneva and Ticino would also be returned to Nigeria, along with the 18 cultural items being handed over during Baume-Schneider’s visit.

Earlier in March, Bern agreed to transfer ownership of 28 items to Nigeria as part of a wider restitution process, amid growing demands by African states for cultural objects stolen during colonial rule to be repatriated from Western museums and collections.

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In February, the University of Cambridge transferred legal ownership of 116 artifacts to Nigeria following a formal request submitted in 2022. The Netherlands returned 119 Benin Bronzes in 2025, while Germany handed over 22 objects to Abuja in 2022 after signing an agreement to repatriate more than 1,000 artifacts.

Nigeria’s neighbor Ghana also announced on June 20 that Germany and the Netherlands have agreed to return more than 2,000 cultural objects taken during colonial-era conquests.