As payback, Zhongshang actively sought to confiscate tens of millions of dollars from Nigeria and has begun seizing the nation’s treasured assets like two guest houses in Liverpool, UK, and two aircraft in France and Canada.
The Chinese investors had obtained judgments that favored their quest to seize Nigeria’s national assets from the UK Court in 2021, in which they were awarded $55.6 million in compensation and $75,000 in moral damages alongside interests and arbitration fees.
The expatriates took the UK’s judgment to the U.S. for enforcement, where Nigeria’s JP Morgan was domiciled.
Unwilling to part with its assets, Nigeria pleaded sovereign immunity at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in Washington, where the judges tossed out Nigeria’s defence, deeming it too weak to stand on August 9.