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.

Eppo Bruins, the Dutch culture minister, said the bronzes looted and then sold off after a 1897 British military raid on Benin City, the capital of the historical kingdom of Benin, were “indispensable to Nigeria”.

Nigeria responded saying it hoped that the Dutch decision would serve as a “good example”.

Britain has long faced calls to return Benin Bronzes held by its museums, and the Horniman Museum, University of Cambridge, and the University of Oxford have all sought to return their collections.

However, the British Museum is bound by law not to give away objects in its own collection.