Nigeria’s Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed says Nigeria has signed an agreement with Germany for the repatriation of over 1,130 looted Benin Bronze artifacts back to the country.

He disclosed this in Washington DC on Tuesday, after three museums in the U.S. repatriated 31 Benin Bronze artifacts to Nigeria.

He commended the German Government for that effort, adding that Nigeria is also getting positive responses from France and Mexico to return some of its stolen artifacts.

In 1897 during a British raid on Benin, the royal palace was torched and looted, and the ruler was exiled.

The British confiscated all royal treasures, giving some to individual officers and taking most to auction in London.

The estimated 3,000 objects eventually made their way into museums and private collections around the world.

The minister said the world had seen that it was an ethical and moral issue to return the artifacts back to their owners, noting that it is not a matter of law as claimed by the British Government.