A bronze chicken looted in 1897 is flying back to Nigeria
Where one goes, many others will follow
IN FEBRUARY 1897 British soldiers raced from the Nigerian coast to Benin City, machine-gunning as they went. Their “punitive expedition” aimed to avenge the killing of several Britons a month earlier and to destroy the Edo kingdom. By the time the soldiers entered the city it was lifeless, all the residents having fled or been killed. But the troops were not disappointed. They discovered thousands of sculptures, which they removed before burning the city.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Coming home to roost”
Britain October 30th 2021
- Rishi Sunak’s budget marks a turn to big-state Conservatism
- Ministers roll out the red carpet for entrepreneurs and their investors
- What’s behind the Great British Battery Bonanza?
- Britain’s minimum wage is catching up with pre-pandemic ambitions
- A bronze chicken looted in 1897 is flying back to Nigeria
- An attempt to stop Britain sharing expats’ data with Uncle Sam
- The greening of Boris Johnson
From the October 30th 2021 edition
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