Has the UK reached a watershed moment for returning looted artefacts?

As some of Britain’s museums and institutions finally begin to return stolen objects such as the Benin Bronzes, Rory Sullivan explores why it’s taken so long

The bronze Oba head was returned to Nigerian authorities last October (AFP/Getty)

The repatriation process began with the return of a bronze cockerel and a bronze Oba head.

While Nigeria had long sought redress for the stolen Benin Bronzes housed in British institutions, Lagos still had nothing to show for its efforts by late last year. That was until the University of Aberdeen and Cambridge University’s Jesus College transferred ownership of an item apiece to the Nigerian authorities last October.

The artefacts had both been looted during Britain’s punitive military expedition against the Kingdom of Benin in 1897, which destroyed many lives and pillaged many cultural treasures.