US court makes damning allegation’s against Ogun govt, Nigeria police as regards Zhongshan dispute
A U.S. court has leveled serious accusations against the Ogun State government and Nigerian police, alleging human rights abuses against executives of Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Co. Limited.
Court documents reveal that the executives were subjected to beatings, denied food and water, and arrested at gunpoint. These findings were issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in a case between Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd. (Appellee) and the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Appellant). The case was argued on April 22, 2024, and decided on August 9, 2024.
The court documents also indicate that officials of the Chinese firm were threatened. The case is related to the controversy over the seizure of Nigeria’s presidential aircraft abroad.
Judge Millett’s court opinion highlights that these events occurred when Ogun State was trying to terminate its contracts with Zhongshan, which were related to establishing a free trade zone in the state.
In 2010, the Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone Company contracted Zhongshan’s parent company to develop an industrial park within the free trade zone. The agreement was for Zhongshan’s parent company to develop and build factories in the park for use by tenants.
However, in the first half of 2016, Ogun State terminated its agreements with Zhongshan, alleging that another Chinese company was entitled to Zhongshan’s share of the free trade zone and that Zhongshan had defrauded Ogun.
The court documents state, “As tensions escalated, an Ogun official texted a Zhongshan executive advising him to ‘leave peacefully’ to avoid ‘forceful removal, complications, and possible prosecution.’”
Subsequently, Ogun issued arrest warrants for two Zhongshan executives on charges of ‘criminal breach of trust.’ One executive was arrested at gunpoint by Nigerian federal police, who held him for ten days, during which he was beaten, denied food and water, and interrogated about the other executive’s whereabouts.
On Thursday, Ogun State’s Special Adviser on Media and Strategy, Hon. Kayode Akinmade, stated that the state’s initial negotiation efforts with Zhongshan were reversed. Akinmade noted that Ogun State was informed of Zhongshan’s provisional attachment of three Nigerian government-owned aircraft in France, following two court orders from Paris dated March 7, 2024, and August 12, 2024, both obtained without notifying the Federal Government of Nigeria, Ogun State, or their legal representatives.
He criticized Zhongshan’s attempts to attach Nigerian-owned assets abroad, asserting that none had resulted in the recovery of funds from Nigeria. He added that the aircraft in question are used solely for sovereign purposes and are therefore immune from attachment under international and French law.
