PHOTOS: Nigeria receives 119 looted Benin bronzes from Netherlands

Nigeria has received 119 bronzes looted during the 1897 British raid on Benin City from the Netherlands.

The handover ceremony took place on Saturday at the National Museum in Lagos, where four of the artefacts were displayed.

Hannatu Musawa, minister of art, culture, tourism, and creative economy, signed the handover document alongside Dewi van de Weerd, Dutch ambassador for international cultural cooperation.

The displayed selection included a bronze carving of a king’s head, an elephant tusk, a bird, and a leopard.

“These are embodiments of the spirit and identity of the people from which they were taken from,” Olugbile Holloway, director-general of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), said.

The other bronzes will be returned to the Oba of Benin.

Meanwhile, Holloway said Germany has also agreed to return more than 1,000 additional Benin bronze pieces.

He noted that the German government has signed a transfer agreement to that effect.

Here are pictures of the artefacts handed over from the Netherlands.