The Netherlands says it will return more than 100 Benin Bronzes that British troops looted from Nigeria in the late 19th Century and which ended up in a Dutch museum. Thousands of these culturally significant sculptures and carvings were stolen during the violent destruction of Benin City, in modern-day Nigeria's Edo state, in 1897.

The Netherlands has agreed to return a collection of 119 artifacts to Nigeria, the latest objects to be sent back to their homelands as museums grapple with their colonial-era holdings.

Over 100 precious Benin Bronzes have been returned to Nigeria from a Dutch museum in a landmark repatriation agreement.

It’s been described as the single largest return to date of the famous Benin antiquities looted by the British military.

The Netherlands says it is returning 119 Benin bronzes looted during the British attack on Benin City in 1897 to Nigeria.

The Netherlands will return 119 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria which the country took during colonial times. View on euronews

The British Museum has come under fresh pressure to hand over its Benin Bronzes after the Netherlands returned more than 100 of the artefacts to Nigeria.

At the request of Nigeria, the Netherlands will today return 113 pieces of bronze art that form part of the Benin Bronzes collection, Culture Minister Eppo Bruins announced. The artifacts were looted by British soldiers from the Kingdom of Benin,

The Netherlands say over a 100 Benin Bronzes that were plundered from Nigeria by British troops in the 1800s in museums will be returned.

The Netherlands says it will return more than 100 artifacts looted from the Kingdom of Benin, in what is now southern Nigeria, more than a century ago. The Benin Bronzes, plaques and sculptures of metal and ivory that decorated the kingdom's royal palace,

In recent years, about 1,100 objects from German, Scottish, British, and French museums have been returned amid pressure over colonial-era acquisitions.