US Government Confirms Return Of 63 Looted Benin Bronzes To Nigeria

The United States and the Nigerian government have signed an agreement to preserve Sukur’s cultural heritage in Adamawa State.

The Memorandum of Understanding for the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation was signed in Abuja.

The US government, having repatriated 63 Benin bronzes since 2022, awarded the grant to the International Council on Monuments and Sites in Nigeria.

The purpose of the grant is to support the preservation of Sukur cultural heritage through infrastructure enhancements, traditional crafts revival, and language documentation.

The successful repatriation of the bronzes is a result of bilateral efforts to identify, intercept, and repatriate looted cultural property.

Nigeria’s Minister of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, highlighted the threat to the Sukur Cultural Landscape posed by insurgency and climate change and outlined the project’s goals, including conservation, capacity-building, and community resilience.