Cambridge college hands back looted African sculpture
Gulf Times
Archivist Robert Athol with a bronze statue of a cockerel called The Okukor, one of the Benin Bronzes, at Jesus College, University of Cambridge.
A Cambridge University college will hand over to Nigeria an African bronze looted over a century ago, in the first return of its kind by a British institution.
The elaborately carved cockerel, known as "Okukor", was one of thousands of African artefacts taken from the continent during the colonial period.
Students protested for it to be returned, prompting its eventual handover to Nigerian officials Wednesday.
"We're excited, very happy to see that this artefact, which has been away from Nigeria for decades, is in good shape," said Abba Isa Tijani, the head of the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments.
