Germany is considering handing back a set of precious artefacts known as the Benin bronzes to Nigeria, a committee said Wednesday as a global debate gathers pace over the restitution of ancient artworks. Members of the committee at the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK), which manages Berlin's museums, have "agreed to find a solution in the case of the Benin bronzes that also considers the restitution of objects as an option", it said in a statement. The metal plaques and sculptures that decorated the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin between the 16th and 18th centuries are now scattered around European museums, after being looted by the British at the end of the 19th century. The SPK's Ethnological Museum has 530 historical objects from the kingdom, including 440 bronzes – considered the most important collection outside London's British Museum. Some 180 of the bronzes – which are not from modern Benin but the ancient Kingdom of Benin, today part of southern Nigeria – are due to be exhibited this year in Berlin's Humboldt Forum, a new museum complex that opened in December. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Wednesday Germany was "working with those involved in...