Chinese company seizes Nigerian jets in international dispute
11:12 AM EDT, August 17, 2024
Bayo Onanugi, spokesman for the President of Nigeria, said on Friday that the Chinese company Zhongshan, after winning several lawsuits in France and the USA, took over three Nigerian presidential aircraft and two properties belonging to the Nigerian government in the United States.
Western courts debated the case in 2007, with the Chinese company Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd and the authorities of Ogun State in Nigeria as the parties.
The Chinese were supposed to create a free trade zone in Ogun State, but according to Nigerians, by 2015, they had only fenced the area.
The state authorities then terminated the contract, and the Chinese, who claimed their work was much more than just putting up a fence, began a battle for compensation in international arbitration courts.
Nigeria did not pay, the Chinese took over planes and properties
Courts in the United Kingdom, the USA, and France ruled that Nigeria should pay $74.5 million. Nigeria refused to pay. On Thursday, Zhongshan obtained a French court order allowing them to seize Nigerian assets, including presidential jets undergoing inspections in France and Switzerland.
The seized aircraft include a newly acquired Airbus A330 worth over $100 million, a Dassault Falcon 7X, and a Boeing 737.
Nigeria is a federation, and President Bola Tinubu's government deemed the seizure of federal assets illegal, claiming the Chinese company "withheld vital information and misled" the French court.
In Thursday's statement, the president's spokesman explained that the federal government had no business relations with or signed agreements with the company. He added that "the use and nature of the Presidential jets as assets of a sovereign entity whose assets are protected by diplomatic immunity forbid any foreign Court from issuing an order against them."
On Friday, it turned out that it was not the end of the federal government's troubles, as a US court allowed Zhongshan to seize two properties belonging to the Nigerian government located in the United States.
The Chinese do not intend to stop there. They have already initiated legal actions to seize additional Nigerian state assets in the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Canada, Belgium, Singapore, and the British Virgin Islands.
Reversal of the situation. "A gesture of goodwill"
However, on Friday, Zhongshan issued a statement: "It has now been made aware that an Airbus A330, currently detained in France as a result of a French court order obtained by Zhongshan, is needed for the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to travel to a scheduled meeting with President Macron of France early next week. As a gesture of goodwill, Zhongshan has lifted the seizure of that aircraft immediately. This will allow it to be used for the President’s trip."
