Three Swiss museums returned 18 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria on 29 June 2026

What Switzerland handed over

Fourteen of the 18 museum objects came from the Ethnographic Museum at the University of Zurich. Museum Rietberg Zurich and the Musée d'Ethnographie de Genève (MEG) sent two each.

The pieces are courtly and religious works from the Kingdom of Benin, cast in metal or carved from ivory. The royal court produced them from the 16th century onwards, and they were used to represent and venerate ancestors and to perform political functions. They belong to the Benin Bronzes, a collection of thousands of artworks that British troops looted during the attack on Benin City in 1897. The loot then moved through the art market into collections around the world.

Artforum lists a container for herbs and medicine showing Ofoe, the divine messenger of death, among the returned items. It also lists an Eroro bell, which Benin warriors wore as a sign of rank.

Switzerland sent five more objects outside the museum deal. Swiss criminal proceedings had seized them: a bronze bracelet and four archaeological monoliths from the Niger Delta. Alice Hertzog directs the University of Zurich Ethnographic Museum. At the ceremony she said: "We now bid them a fond farewell as they settle back in and reacquaint themselves with life back home".

Separately, the Rietberg has said it plans to transfer 11 objects from its permanent collection to the National Commission for Museums and Monuments. Ownership of all 11 will pass to Nigeria, while nine will remain in Zurich under agreed arrangements, including a 17th-century pendant bronze mask that will stay as a permanent loan. Annette Bhagwati, the museum's director, said the Nigerian side wanted Benin's history and artistry still told in Switzerland. The 29 June ceremony covered two Rietberg pieces.

Why the handover matters

The return followed provenance research by the Benin Initiative Switzerland, which launched in 2021. Museum Rietberg Zurich leads the initiative with funding from the Swiss Federal Office of Culture, and eight Swiss museums take part.

The initiative has said at least 55 objects in Swiss collections probably had a connection to the 1897 looting, Arise News reported.

Restitution lets Nigerian institutions, researchers, artists and students study and interpret the objects in Nigeria, according to a joint release from the museums. It also lets them do so on Nigeria's own terms.

The legal framework

Elisabeth Baume-Schneider, a Swiss federal councillor, and Hannatu Musa Musawa, Nigeria's minister of art, culture, tourism and the creative economy, signed a cultural property agreement at the ceremony. The agreement covers import, export and repatriation. It aims to combat illicit trade in cultural property and protect cultural heritage.

Switzerland said it had met its legal obligation to return the seized objects to their country of origin.

How it compares with other returns

The Netherlands returned 119 Benin Bronzes last year. Germany pledged in a 2022 declaration with Nigeria to return all 1,130 Benin Bronzes in German museums. The University of Cambridge returned 116 artefacts earlier this year, Artforum reported.

Berlin's Ethnologisches Museum and the Wereldmuseum Leiden have also committed to returning Benin objects, Arise News reported.

What happens next

Some of the returned objects will go on display at the National Museum in Lagos. The majority will return to Edo State, where they will be temporarily stored in the Oba Ovonramwen Storage facility at the National Museum in Benin City, according to a joint release from the museums. The NCMM plans a gallery to display all the recently returned Benin artefacts, including the Swiss returns and artefacts returned last year from the Netherlands.