There appears to be no end in sight for Nigeria’s troubles as the nation is fast losing some of its prized assets to the Chinese Zhongshang Fucheng Industrial Investment Ltd, which has embarked on the successive seizures of Nigerian assets after it secured an order from a French court.
The Chinese firm secured an order to confiscate Nigerian properties over an alleged breach of contractual agreement by Ogun State of Nigeria which stemmed from a failed free trade zone (FTZ) deal, and it has moved quickly to take over Nigeria’s assets in Europe and North America to collect up to $70 million from a 2021 arbitration verdict.
No sooner did the Chinese firm seized three Nigerian presidential jets in France last week, than it followed it up by confiscating two Nigerian guest houses in Liverpool UK on Wednesday. And on Thursday, the spate of seizures continued when the firm announced that it has finalised repossession of a luxury jet owned by Nigeria in Canada, LEADERSHIP gathered.
The investment group reportedly received a change of custodian paperwork for the Bombardier 6000 type BD-700-1A10 aircraft from Canadian authorities in Montreal, and has exerted ownership over the aircraft.
The firm had reportedly obtained a court judgement from a Canadian Court several months ago to enable it to seize the Nigerian jet.
“The court granted orders for Zhongshang to seize the plane earlier this year, but the change of custody from Nigeria to Zhongshang was only recently concluded,” someone familiar with Zhongshang’s activities said anonymously to discuss the matter. “Zhongshang will not stop seizing Nigeria’s assets worldwide until the last cent of the arbitration awards has been paid.”
Nigeria faces more threats of property seizures as some of its assets in Belgium and the US are up for grabs in the coming weeks.
Nigeria has mounted challenges against the court orders but it has not been successful in five countries. The country has, however, said it did no wrong. It is not certain whether this assertion can save the situation for the country.
LEADERSHIP had reported that after seizing the Nigerian guest houses in the UK, the Chinese firm took further steps to put the two residential structures in the UK it confiscated for sale on global online marketplace eBay for an estimated $2.2 million.
The Chinese firm last Wednesday announced that it has seized three presidential jets of Nigeria but later released one to be used to convey the Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu, for a trip to France this week. Despite saying it was open for negotiation with the Nigerian government, the firm has intensified efforts to confiscate Nigerian assets wherever it may find them.
The Chinese firm took possession of the Nigerian properties at number 15, Aigburth Hall Road, Liverpool and Beech Lodge, 49, Calderstones Road, Liverpool United Kingdom, in June 2024, years after Nigeria failed to settle an arbitration judgement handed down in 2021.
According to court documents, Zhongshang was awarded $55,675,000 plus interest of $9,400,000 and costs of £2,864,445 as of the date of the arbitration verdict on March 26, 2021. The firm said Ogun state violated a 2001 trade treaty between Nigeria and China when its rights to a free trade zone were rescinded in 2016.
LEADERSHIP had also reported that the company dragged Nigeria before the arbitration panel in the UK in 2018, alleging that Nigeria allowed its federal organs like the police, immigration and export processing authority to be deployed by Ogun State without due process. Court documents said two Zhongshang executives were expelled from Nigeria between mid and late 2016 after one of them had allegedly been detained and tortured by the police.
Losing its prized assets in quick succession is certainly a difficult situation for Nigeria at the moment. How the nation will recover the assets, according to experts, remains within the diplomatic strategy that the nation might adopt in the coming days and that is left to be seen.
By Innocent Odoh, Leadership
Related story: Chinese Investor Seizes Nigeria’s Houses In UK
