Oxford and Cambridge Universities have announced the return to Nigeria of 213 items from the Benin Bronze Collection, which was looted by British troops in the 19th century.

Numerically, the contribution of British universities may seem small compared to the 1,100 artifacts that Germany has pledged to return to Nigeria, but by British standards, this deal is rightfully historic, as it is the most Beninese artifacts to be returned to their homeland from the UK.

Of course, the British Charity Commission will have to give the final green light, but the mere announcement of their intentions by the two universities increases the pressure on British museums and for the State to remove legal barriers to the repatriation of illicitly obtained items.

As in the case of Germany, many of the artifacts will now remain on British soil and in university museums as the Nigerian authorities have indicated they are open to the provision of some historic art and continue to be displayed provided their new property status is recognized.

In total, African treasures number about 5,000 items that came into the possession of the British armed forces when they invaded the kingdom of Benin in 1897, now Nigeria.

The items were transported to London, and from there, through opaque networks and through sale and purchase, they went to museums and private collections in Europe and America.

Nigeria has been demanding the return of the treasure for 60 years, but a major political shift came in 2017 from France and President Macron, who called their return an “absolute priority”.

Since then, several agreements and moves have been made to repatriate the facilities. In the case of the UK, there are legal barriers to the removal of antiquities from British museums, with a few exceptions. However, in Britain there are increasingly (institutional) voices calling for the removal of legislative obstacles.