Chinese Firm Zhongshang Allegedly Seizes Nigerian-Owned Aircraft in Canada Amid Legal Dispute

Zhongshang Fucheng Industrial Investment Ltd., a Chinese company, has successfully completed the takeover of a high-end aircraft that belonged to Nigeria in Canada.

According to the Peoples Gazette, Zhongshang was granted permission by a Canadian court to take possession of the Bombardier 6000 type BD-700-1A10 aircraft. As a result, the company was able to obtain the necessary papers for a change of custodian for the aircraft from Nigeria.

“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,” a source familiar with Zhongshang’s activities said anonymously. The source added, “Zhongshang will not stop seizing Nigeria’s assets worldwide until the last cent of the arbitration awards has been paid.”

The report states that on March 21, 2024, Judge David Collier of the Superior Court of Quebec dismissed Nigeria's claims to retain possession of the aircraft.

Documents revealed that Dan Etete, a wanted man, paid $57 million for the aircraft as part of his extravagant spending spree, not long after he received a windfall of over $350 million from the profitable but controversial sale of the OPL 245 oil field in 2010.

According to the report, Nigeria initially took possession of the aircraft from Etete in 2016 and imprisoned it in Dubai. It also stated that flight monitoring websites revealed that on May 29, 2020, the aircraft was unexpectedly flown to Canada, where Nigeria promptly secured a court order for seizure and detained it at Montreal's main airport. Nevertheless, Nigeria was permitted to keep control of the aircraft by Canadian courts, despite an attempt by a Canadian company, Tibit, to assert ownership.

To provide more context, the investigation stated that Zhongshang attempted to seize the jet in 2023 while pursuing the implementation of its arbitration verdicts against Nigeria totaling more than $70 million.

Judge Collier ruled that Nigeria's claim that it could not react to the action for nine months due to the February–March 2023 national elections was baseless and inappropriate. Nigeria failed to contest Zhongshang's seizure of the aircraft. Additionally, the judge dismissed Nigeria's claim of sovereign immunity in the same manner as the arbitration panel and UK courts had previously determined.

Recently, an American appellate court determined that Nigeria was not entitled to sovereign immunity against Zhongshang's recovery of its arbitration award.

According to the most recent development, Zhongshang has been successful in seizing Nigeria's assets in Canada, the UK, and France. The company anticipates additional seizures in Belgium and the United States in the upcoming weeks.

The litigation stems from a disagreement between Zhongshang and Ogun State. The Chinese company claimed that when Nigeria's rights to a free trade zone were taken away in 2016, the government violated a 2001 trade agreement between China and Nigeria.

Nigeria has denied any misconduct in the litigation, despite losing every challenge it has filed against Chinese investors in at least five different nations.