African Prince calls for Bristol Museum to return stolen artefacts

AN AFRICAN prince is calling on Bristol Museum to return a Benin Bronze sculpture – one of thousands of priceless artefacts stolen by colonists in the 19th century – back to Nigeria.
Benin Bronzes refer to thousands of artworks which once decorated the palace of the oba, or king, of the west African empire of Benin.
Many of the finely carved artefacts were stolen from the kingdom’s capital Benin City — now in modern-day Nigeria — by the British army in a punitive 1897 expedition.
More from this author

In an exclusive investigation, BETHANY RIELLY looks at how the state targeted leading politicians and campaigning groups — labelling many well-known figures 'extremists' and 'subversives' for attempting to hold the police to account

On September 4, 16 Eritrean asylum-seekers were arrested at a protest against their country’s dictatorship and its supporters here. Since then, questions have been raised about whether the British authorities are doing enough to protect activists and asylum-seekers from the ‘long arm’ of the regime in Asmara