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he Church of England has promised to return two Benin Bronzes to Nigeria as the row over repatriation of African treasures continues to grow.
Lambeth Palace said it is “currently in discussions” about the return of the works which were given as gifts to then Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie almost 40 years ago.
They are likely to end up at the planned Edo Museum of West African Art (EMOWAA) which is being built in Benin City specifically to showcase the treasures of the African kingdom which is in present day Nigeria.
Benin was attacked by British troops in 1897 with around 5,000 works of art plundered and spread across the globe which are now being tracked by an online project gathering information about them.