A Chinese company, Zhongshang Fucheng Industrial Investment Ltd., has taken back a luxury jet owned by Nigeria in Canada.
According to Peoples Gazette, Zhongshang got papers from Canadian authorities in Montreal to take custody of the Bombardier 6000 jet. This happened after a Canadian court allowed Zhongshang to seize the jet from Nigeria.
The court allowed Zhongshang to take the jet earlier this year, but the switch from Nigeria to Zhongshang’s possession was only finished recently, said an anonymous source familiar with Zhongshang’s activities.
Zhongshang has said they will keep taking Nigeria’s assets until all arbitration awards have been paid.
Judge David Collier of the Superior Court of Quebec decided against Nigeria’s arguments to keep the jet on March 21, 2024.
Records showed that the aircraft was bought for $57 million by fugitive Dan Etete, who had received over $350 million from selling the OPL 245 oil field in 2010. Nigeria first seized the jet from Etete in 2016 and held it in Dubai. It was then flown to Canada on May 29, 2020, where Nigeria got a court order to seize and keep it at the main airport in Montreal.
A Canadian company, Tibit, tried to claim the jet, but Canadian courts let Nigeria keep control.
In 2023, Zhongshang Fucheng moved to take the jet while trying to enforce its arbitration awards of over $70 million against Nigeria. Judge Collier said Nigeria didn’t respond to the seizure, and their excuse of being busy with the February-March 2023 elections was not valid. The judge also dismissed Nigeria’s claim of sovereign immunity, as had been decided by courts in the UK.
Recently, a U.S. appellate court also ruled that Nigeria couldn’t use sovereign immunity to avoid paying Zhongshang.
Zhongshang Fucheng has now successfully taken Nigeria’s assets in the UK, France, and Canada. They expect more seizures in Belgium and the U.S. soon.
The dispute started between Zhongshang and Ogun State in Nigeria. Zhongshang argued that the state broke a 2001 trade treaty between Nigeria and China when it took away their rights to a free trade zone in 2016.
Although Nigeria has lost all legal challenges against Zhongshang in at least five countries, it still claims no wrongdoing.
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