Channel 4 News published this video item, entitled “UK university’s return of looted Benin Bronze puts pressure on other institutions” – below is their description.
Aberdeen University has become the first British institution to announce that it plans to return artefacts looted in the late 19th century from what is now part of Nigeria.
The decision to hand back one of the thousands of Benin Bronzes could lead a wave of repatriations of the stolen plaques and sculptures.
The UK government has insisted that institutions should “retain and explain” contested artefacts, but the university’s decision puts pressure on the British Museum, which holds 900 of the Benin Bronzes.
We have been to Aberdeen to see one of the first Bronzes from a museum to be returned.
Channel 4 News YouTube Channel
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In This Story: Benin
Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as Dahomey, the country gained full independence from France in 1960.
It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its population lives on the small southern coastline of the Bight of Benin, part of the Gulf of Guinea in the northernmost tropical portion of the Atlantic Ocean.
The capital of Benin is Porto-Novo, but the seat of government is in Cotonou, the country’s largest city and economic capital. Benin covers an area of 114,763 square kilometres (44,310 sq mi) and its population in 2018 was estimated to be approximately 11.49 million.
The official language of Benin is French, with several indigenous languages such as Fon, Bariba, Yoruba and Dendi also being commonly spoken. The largest religious group in Benin is Roman Catholicism, followed closely by Islam, Vodun (commonly referred to as Voodoo outside the country) and Protestantism.
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