Two Benin bronzes have been returned to a traditional palace in Nigeria, more than a century after they were pillaged by British troops.
The move raised hopes that thousands more artefacts could finally be returned to their ancestral home.
At a colourful ceremony to mark the return of a cockerel sculpture and head of an Oba or king, spokesperson Charles Edosonmwan for the Oba palace in Benin City noted on Saturday that some of the bronzes were kept as far away as New Zealand, the United States and Japan.
“They are not just art but they are things that underline the significance of our spirituality,” Edosonmwan said in an interview on the sidelines of a ceremony attended by traditional leaders.
The artefacts were created as early as the 16th century onwards, according to the British Museum.
The two artefacts were handed over to the Nigerian High Commission in October by the University of Aberdeen and Cambridge University’s Jesus College but have yet to return to their ancestral home.
