Londoner’s Diary: Return of Benin bronzes turns heat up on the British Museum

Controversial: the Benin Bronzes in the British Museum

(Picture: Getty Images)

The British Museum is under renewed pressure to return items after South London’s Horniman Museum said it is returning its Benin bronzes to Nigeria. The Horniman said yesterday it would transfer ownership of 72 bronzes looted by British forces from Benin city in 1897 to the Nigerian Government.

Museums claim they are bound by law from returning artefacts, but Professor Dan Hicks of the University of Oxford, who wrote book The Brutish Museums, told The Londoner there is “nothing to stop” the trustee body deciding to return the items, adding “the public and professional debate about the Benin bronzes is over”.