In recent years, museum curators in Europe have been campaigning for artefacts, once looted from the rest of the world, to be returned to their sites of origin. Among the most discussed artefacts are the Benin bronzes – elaborately decorated brass plaques and sculptures that once adorned the royal palace of the historical Kingdom of Benin in western Africa. Several thousands of these bronzes exist and many are displayed in museums around the world. In the UK, you can see them in the British Museum in London and the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford. But probably not for long.

The British Museum, like others across Europe, is a member of the Benin Dialogue Group, which is negotiating over the bronze’s return with Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments. On the Western side, the campaign to return artefacts is part of a larger movement to ‘decolonise’ museums and universities.

Twenty-three Benin bronzes were returned last year to Nigeria from the Ethnological Museum of Berlin. They were handed over in person, in Abuja, by German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock and culture minister Claudia Roth. Unfortunately, the German government’s gesture appears to have backfired. Instead of being put on public display, as was expected, the bronzes were handed over to Ewuare II, the present-day Oba, or king, of Benin. Many now fear they will only be displayed in the king’s private collection in his lavish palace. Ewuare II is believed to have a net worth of around $60million.