Hon. Justice Chuka Austine Obiozor of The Federal High Court Lagos
Division has granted an interim injunction against Afrijet Airlines
Limited, owned by Chief Vitalis Ibe on the application of Asset
Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).
The obligor owes AMCON
nearly N10 billion. AMCON purchased the Eligible Bank Assets (EBAs)
sometime in 2011 from the defunct FinBank and Bank PHB. The order also
affects Ibe’s Continental Aviation Services Limited. AMCON has since
appointed Prof. Gbolahan Elias, SAN as Receiver/Manager.
At about
11:00am Friday, the Receiver/Manager took possession of the assets of
Chief Ibe including Afrijet Plaza, the corporate head office of the
airlines located on Sheraton-Opebi Link Road Ikeja, Opebi, Lagos; his
asset at Plot 22, JimohOdutola Street, off Eric Moore Road, Surulere,
Lagos as well as his office at the Airport. The Court order mandated the
Receiver/Manager to also take over on behalf of AMCON and any other
offices, branches, stores, warehouses, factories of Chief Ibe and his
companies located and/or traced for the purpose of satisfying the
indebtedness.
Justice Obiozor, the presiding judge while granting the
order on the application of Prof. Gbolahan Elias, SAN counsel to AMCON,
restrained Ibe and his companies, directors, agents, servants and/or
privies from operating, withdrawing from or otherwise tampering with the
funds belonging to and/or deposited in any of his bank accounts under
whatever name or guise in any bank or financial institution in Nigeria.
Chief Ibe who would not repay the huge debt owed the Corporation has
been in protracted negotiations with AMCON.
The Court therefore
ordered the Inspector General of Police, Assistant Inspectors General of
Police, and the Commissioner of Police in charge of Lagos State, its
Deputy and all other Police Officers under them to assist Prof. Gbolahan
Elias, SAN, the Receiver/Manager and the Bailiffs of the Federal High
Court in the enforcement of the orders of the Court. No incident was
recorded during the enforcement exercise.
Afrijet Airlines formally
operated from the NAHCO Building on the grounds of Murtala Muhammed
International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos. At some point in the history of
the airline, it also operated regional cargo operations high profile
security flight operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The
airline later moved to its corporate headquarters in Opebi, Lagos, which
was one of the assets AMCON took over yesterday. Afrijet Airlines still
maintains an aviation maintenance shop with its sister company Elite
Aviation.
AMCON under Ahmed Kuru, Managing Director/Chief Executive
Officer, had continually maintained that it would not be business as
usual for all top debtors of the Corporation because some 400 obligors
of the Corporation account for more than N4.5 trillion, which is
approximately 80 per cent of the total outstanding loan balance of the
Corporation’s over 12,000 accounts.
To deal with the situation
however, the Kuru-led AMCON recently increased the tempo of its recovery
activities using firmer negotiation strategies as well as utilizing the
special enforcement powers vested by the AMCON Act to compel some of
its recalcitrant debtors especially those that are politically exposed
and business heavyweights to repay their debts.
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