Germany will return a goddess statue that was stolen from Cameroon 120 years ago, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation said this week, part of a growing trend to give back artefacts taken during the colonial era.

The female figure, known as Ngonnso’, will be returned to the kingdom of Nso’ in northwestern Cameroon. It was taken by colonial officer Kurt von Pavel and donated to Berlin’s Ethnological Museum in 1903.

“Bring Back Ngonnso”, a civil society initiative, has been campaigning for the statue’s return for years, as the Nso’ people say they have suffered numerous calamities since it was stolen...