President Emmanuel Macron of France has confirmed the return to Benin of 26 works of art, stolen by French troops from the royal treasure-house of Abomey in 1892.

After viewing the artefacts at the Quai Branly museum in Paris, Mr. Macron said African youth should not be denied access to their history.

Benin’s Foreign Minister, Aurélien Agbenonci, also attended the museum ceremony and said the two countries had turned a new page in their relations.

Earlier on Wednesday, Britain returned to Nigeria a statue of a bronze cockerel looted from the Kingdom of Benin, now Nigeria’s Edo State, during the colonial era.