Nigeria’s stolen cultural heritage is slowly coming back home.
On Monday, Swiss authorities returned 18 artefacts looted during the colonial era to Nigeria in a ceremony at the National Museum in Lagos.
The restitution is the result of a collaborative process between Swiss museums and their Nigerian partners under the Benin Initiative Switzerland. The programme was launched in 2021 to investigate the provenance of Benin objects in Swiss collections.
Monday’s ceremony marked the first step in the implementation of an agreement signed in March 2026, in which Switzerland agreed to eventually transfer ownership of 28 pieces to Nigeria.
“The return of our cultural heritage marks more than the recovery of artefacts. It reflects the power of dialogue, trust, and international cooperation,” Nigeria’s culture minister Hannatu Musa Musawa said on X.
