Cambridge University removes cockerel looted from Benin Empire and may even return it

CAMBRIDGE University has bowed to pressure from its students and removed a bronze cockerel which belonged to the old Benin Empire in Nigeria from its main hall amid protests that the looted sculpture celebrated a racist and colonial past.

 

Jesus College, one of the schools that makes up the illustrious university, has even said that it would consider repatriating the cockerel, known as the Okukor, to Nigeria. It was handed the cockerel that was looted from southern Nigeria in 1897 when a British expedition attacked the ancient empire in what was known as the massacre of Benin.

 

Students had demanded in a vote that the bronze work be taken down and returned to the Benin royal palace in Nigeria. Yesterday, the college said, however, that the rightful location of the Benin bronze was a complex matter requiring further discussion.

 

If the cockerel is returned, the move could revive the campaign to also remove a statue of Cecil Rhodes, the 19th-century colonialist, from Oriel College, Oxford University. It could also embolden campaigners trying to repatriate other cultural artefacts, including the Elgin Marbles, which Greece wants to be returned from the British Museum.

 

Cambridge's cockerel was bequeathed to Jesus College in 1930 by an army captain, George William Neville, whose son had attended the college. It has symbolic importance because the college coat of arms features three black cockerels with red combs and wattles.

 

However, last month the college students’ union approved a motion supporting the repatriation of the Okukor. A debate opened by Amatey Doku, a Ghanaian student, revealed that the Okukor was stolen on a punitive expedition in reprisal for the killing of British traders, in which the Kingdom of Benin was destroyed and 3,000 pieces of art were stolen.

 

He proposed that the college commissions a new work and hold a repatriation ceremony at which it would be returned. Already, a Benin bronze appreciation committee has made contact with the Nigerian government which supports the proposal to repatriate the cockerel.

 

Another student, Ore Ogunbiyi, who seconded the motion, told the meeting: “We spoke to a bronze repatriation expert who said that grown men cried after the return of pieces in 2014.”

 

A Cambridge University spokesman added: “Jesus College acknowledges the contribution made by students in raising the important but complex question of the rightful location of its Benin bronze, in response to which it has permanently removed the Okukor from its hall. The college commits to work actively with the wider university and to commit resources to new initiatives with Nigerian heritage and museum authorities to discuss and determine the best future for the Okukor, including the question of repatriation.”

 

Jesus College’s original emblem was the five wounds of Jesus but in the 16th century, that had become a symbol of rebellions protesting at the suppression of monasteries. It is believed to have been replaced in 1575 with a shield with the personal coat of arms of John Alcock, the Bishop of Ely and its founder, featuring black cockerels and ten crowns.