Cambridge set to repatriate Benin Bronzes

THE Charity Commission will allow the University of Cambridge to repatriate its Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, despite fears about what will become of the artefacts.

The university’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology pledged to return its 116 Bronzes, leading to concerns the artworks would inflame tensions between rival Nigerian claimants and end up in the hands of communities that had historically profited from slavery.

The Charity Commission was urged by campaigners to reject plans to repatriate the Bronzes, but the regulator has now given Cambridge permission to fulfil its “moral obligation” by returning the artworks to Nigeria.

A statement from the regulator, responsible for charitable organisations including UK universities, said: “We have granted the required consent allowing Cambridge University to transfer the title of 116 artefacts (Benin Bronzes) to the Nigerian National Commission for Museum and Monuments.”

The Benin Bronzes are artworks taken by British forces in 1897 from the Kingdom of Benin – now part of Nigeria – which were sold off to museums around the world and are now the subject of demands for repatriation. Tribal leaders of the Benin ethnic group insist the Bronzes should be handed to their Oba (king), despite the Nigerian government also laying claim to the artworks.

Repatriation has also proven controversial for the descendants of African slaves, who have argued the Kingdom of Benin created the Bronzes with wealth derived from the slave trade and therefore its modern-day

successors should not be rewarded for this by returning the artworks.

Deadria Farmer-paellmann, a US lawyer who runs legal campaigns to secure reparations for the descendants of slaves, wrote to the Charity Commission urging it to reject Cambridge’s plans. She said Cambridge was “discriminating against descendants of enslaved people by ignoring our role in the making of the Benin Bronzes”.