Further problems: Chinese investor seizes Nigerian houses in the UK

Following its recent success in obtaining an order from a French court to seize Nigerian property due to a breach of a contractual agreement by Nigeria's Ogun State, Zhongshang Fucheng has now embarked on a takeover of Nigerian assets in Europe and North America to recover up to US$70 million through a 2021 arbitration award.

The investment group is desperately trying to recover up to $70 million from arbitration awards from Nigeria and has taken steps to list two Nigerian homes in the UK that it seized for sale on global online marketplace eBay for an estimated $2.2 million.

Last Wednesday, the Chinese company announced it had seized three presidential jets from Nigeria. It later released one to take Nigerian President Bola Tinubu to an event in France this week. Although the company says it is open to negotiations with the Nigerian government, it has stepped up its efforts to confiscate Nigerian assets wherever it finds them.

The Chinese company took possession of the Nigerian properties at 15 Aigburth Hall Road in Liverpool and 49 Beech Lodge in Calderstones Road in Liverpool, United Kingdom, in June 2024, years after Nigeria failed to settle an arbitration ruling issued in 2021.

According to court documents, Zhongshang was awarded $55,675,000 plus interest of $9,400,000 and costs of £2,864,445 in the arbitration award dated March 26, 2021. The firm said Ogun State breached a 2001 trade agreement between Nigeria and China when it was stripped of free trade zone rights in 2016.

The company sued Nigeria in the UK arbitration tribunal in 2018, claiming that Nigeria had allowed its federal organs such as the police, immigration and export processing authority to be used by Ogun state without due process. According to court documents, two Zhongshang executives were expelled from the country.

Nigeria between mid and late 2016 after one of them was allegedly arrested and tortured by police.

Nigeria is not new to such controversies. A similar case occurred in the P&ID case, where a court awarded the consortium $11 billion because Nigeria allegedly breached its contract. However, Nigeria was lucky to win the case against P&ID on appeal after the company was accused of bribery.

It is difficult to say whether Nigeria can escape this onslaught from the Chinese company as this may differ from the P&ID.