After it fired a worker for theft and its director stepped down, the museum faces renewed calls to give back contested objects and an uphill battle to raise funds for refurbishment.
Hartwig Fischer, who had led the museum since 2016, said that the museum’s failure to respond to earlier warnings “must ultimately rest with the director.”
The museum said that it had dismissed a worker accused of stealing jewelry and gems, some thousands of years old, from a storeroom. The police are investigating.
The collective Looty in London virtually reclaims items from Western museums to give people from former colonies a chance to learn about their stolen heritage.
Restitution efforts were underway, fueled by news that a museum was being planned in Nigeria to house the treasures. Then a surprising announcement sowed uncertainty.