In lieu of debt owed by the Ogun State Government, Chinese company, Zhongshang Fucheng Industrial Investment Ltd, has confiscated a luxury jet owned by Nigeria in Canada, as part of its ongoing confiscation of the country’s assets globally.
Nigeria’s efforts to stop the confiscation were thrown out by Judge David Collier of the Superior Court of Quebec on March 21, 2024.
The aircraft, a Bombardier 6000 type BD-700-1A10, was handed over to Zhongshang following a recent change of custodian paperwork finalized by Canadian authorities in Montreal, according to sources.
This development follows a Canadian court ruling earlier this year, which empowered Zhongshang to seize the jet from Nigeria.
The jet, purchased for $57 million by fugitive Dan Etete with proceeds from the controversial OPL 245 oil field sale, had been seized by Nigeria in 2016 and was held in Dubai before being flown to Canada in 2020.
Zhongshang’s seizure of the aircraft is part of its broader efforts to enforce arbitration awards amounting to over $70 million against Nigeria, following a failed free trade zone contract in Ogun State.
The Chinese firm has already seized Nigerian assets in the UK, France, and Canada, with further confiscations anticipated in Belgium and the United States.
Despite Nigeria’s repeated legal challenges across five countries, the nation has been unsuccessful in preventing these seizures and continues to deny any wrongdoing in the case.
“The court granted orders for Zhongshan to seize the plane earlier this year, but the change of custody from Nigeria to Zhongshan was only recently concluded,” a person familiar with Zhongshan’s activities said anonymously to discuss the matter. “Zhongshan will not stop seizing Nigeria’s assets worldwide until the last cent of the arbitration awards has been paid.”
Judge David Collier of the Superior Court of Quebec had on March 21, 2024, quashed Nigeria’s arguments to keep ownership of the aircraft, which records showed was purchased for $57 million by fugitive Dan Etete as part of his spending binge shortly after netting over $350 million windfall from the lucrative but corrupt sale of OPL 245 oil field in 2010.
Nigeria first seized the aircraft, with tail number M-MYNA and serial number 9471, from Mr Etete in 2016 and trapped it in Dubai. Flight tracking websites showed it was then flown suddenly to Canada on May 29, 2020, where Nigeria quickly obtained a court order for seizure and held it at the main airport in Montreal. A Canadian firm, Tibit, sought to claim ownership, but Canadian courts allowed Nigeria to remain in charge of the aircraft.
In 2023, Zhongshan moved to seize the jet, which could accommodate up to 19 people, while pursuing enforcement of its arbitration awards of over $70 million against Nigeria.
Judge Collier said Nigeria failed to enter a dispute against the aircraft’s seizure by Zhongshan, declaring the country’s argument that it could not respond to the lawsuit for nine months over the February-March 2023 general elections was frivolous and unacceptable.
The judge also rejected Nigeria’s sovereign immunity claim along the lines already itemised by the arbitration panel and courts in the United Kingdom. An appellate court in the United States also recently ruled that Nigeria cannot claim sovereign immunity from Zhongshan’s recovery of its arbitration judgment.
With the Bombardier luxury aircraft now in its possession, Zhongshan has successfully seized Nigeria’s assets in the UK, France and Canada, where the country’s guest houses, presidential jets and the Etete jet have been confiscated, respectively — with potentially more seizures expected in Belgium and the U.S. in the coming weeks.
Although Nigeria has lost all its challenges against the Chinese investors in at least five countries, it has nonetheless maintained no wrongdoing in the lawsuits, which stemmed from a botched free trade zone contract in Ogun State.
Nigeria and Ogun State have disclosed ongoing efforts to resolve the matter with Zhongshan, although no headway has been recorded since the parties first met in London from September 27-29, 2023. A spokesperson for President Bola Tinubu did not immediately return a request seeking comments on the latest development.
