A Chinese investment group, aiming to recover up to $70 million in arbitration awards from Nigeria, has finalized plans to sell two residential properties it seized from the country on the global online marketplace eBay, sources familiar with the arrangement informed Peoples Gazette.
This latest development comes shortly after Zhongshang Fucheng Industrial Investment Ltd secured a court judgment in France authorizing the seizure of three Nigerian presidential planes.
The company seized two buildings tied to the Nigerian government in Liverpool, United Kingdom, in June 2024, following Nigeria’s failure to comply with an arbitration ruling issued in 2021.
The properties, located at 15 Aigburth Hall Road and Beech Lodge, 49 Calderstones Road in Liverpool, were seized following a December 2021 British court order.
This ruling empowered Zhongshang executives to confiscate Nigerian assets in the UK to recover the $70 million judgment, which remained unpaid as of August 20, 2024, with a two per cent monthly interest accruing on the outstanding amount.
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, court documents said.
The case stemmed from a dispute between Zhongshang and Ogun State. The firm said the state violated a 2001 trade treaty between Nigeria and China when its rights to a free trade zone were rescinded in 2016.
The company brought Nigeria before a UK arbitration panel in 2018, accusing the country of using federal agencies, including the police, immigration, and the export processing authority, at the behest of Ogun State without following due process.
According to court documents, two Zhongshang executives were expelled from Nigeria between mid and late 2016, with one of them allegedly detained and tortured by the police.
Several European courts have already issued enforcement orders in the UK, Belgium, France, and other countries, allowing Nigerian-owned jets and other assets to be tracked and seized.
Meanwhile, an appellate panel in the United States recently declined to extend sovereign immunity protection to Nigeria, facilitating Zhongshang’s continued efforts to recover the $70 million owed.
A consultant working with Zhongshang said the company has been working to put the two Liverpool houses up for sale, including on eBay, where the source said up to $2.2 million would be asked for both.
The company is also reportedly preparing to claim Nigeria’s £20 million P&ID award in the UK.
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