The Netherlands will return 119 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, nearly 130 years after they were looted by British soldiers and later sold to the Dutch.

The Netherlands says it will return more than 100 Benin Bronzes that British troops looted from Nigeria in the late 19th Century and which ended up in a Dutch museum. Thousands of these culturally significant sculptures and carvings were stolen during the violent destruction of Benin City, in modern-day Nigeria's Edo state, in 1897.

Over 100 precious Benin Bronzes have been returned to Nigeria from a Dutch museum in a landmark repatriation agreement.

It’s been described as the single largest return to date of the famous Benin antiquities looted by the British military.

In recent years, about 1,100 objects from German, Scottish, British, and French museums have been returned amid pressure over colonial-era acquisitions.

The Netherlands agreed to return 119 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, looted in the late 19th century by British soldiers. This decision marks a significant move as countries and museums seek to resolve colonial-era ownership disputes.

The Netherlands says it will return more than 100 artifacts looted from the Kingdom of Benin, in what is now southern Nigeria, more than a century ago. The Benin Bronzes, plaques and sculptures of metal and ivory that decorated the kingdom's royal palace,

The European country made this known in a statement by its embassy in Abuja on Wednesday, February 19, 2025. The valuable artefacts were looted during the British invasion and ended up in a museum in the Netherlands,