The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered the final seizure, condemnation and forfeiture of a Bombardier BD-700 Global 6000 aircraft with registration mark 9H-GVG and manufacturer’s serial number 9470, operated by Orlean Invest Africa Limited, to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

The court delivered the judgement on January 22 in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1085/2025 between the Nigeria Customs Service as applicant and Orlean Invest Africa Limited and the Bombardier BD-700 Global 6000 as respondents.

In its ruling, the court held that the respondents failed to show cause why the order of final seizure, condemnation and forfeiture should not be made against them.

A Certified True Copy of the judgement, sighted on Tuesday, revealed that the trial judge, Justice James Omotosho, ruled that the respondents did not provide sufficient proof of compliance with Nigeria’s customs laws.

The case was instituted by the Nigeria Customs Service following an audit exercise conducted on private aircraft operating in Nigerian airspace in 2024 to determine the regularity of their operations in line with importation and exportation processes under customs laws.

During the audit, Customs discovered that many private aircraft were operating in violation of the payment of appropriate duties and subsequently issued warning notices to the affected operators.

The service assessed the customs duty liability of Orlean Invest Africa Limited at ₦1,044,493,295.54.

This assessment led to the filing of the suit, which sought a single relief: “An order of final seizure, condemnation and forfeiture of the Bombardier BD-700 Global 6000 with registration mark 9H-GVG and manufacturer’s serial number 9470 (the 2nd respondent) at any airport in Nigeria.”

The motion on notice was supported by a 19-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Simi Adamson, a Superintendent of Customs attached to the Office of the Director, Legal Services.

In his judgement, Justice Omotosho held that Orlean Invest Africa Limited imported the Bombardier BD-700 Global 6000 into Nigeria on October 25, 2015 as a non-commercial private aircraft but failed to pay import duty or obtain a Temporary Import Permit, contrary to the provisions of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023.

He stated that the penalty for such an offence is seizure and forfeiture under Section 246(a) of the Nigeria Customs Act.

Justice Omotosho said, “The respondents submitted no proof of payment of customs duties and, in fact, have deprived the Federal Government of Nigeria of revenue by failing to pay customs duty on the 2nd respondent.”

In its decision, the court further stated, “From all the processes filed by the respondents, they have failed to show cause why the 2nd respondent should not be forfeited.

“Proof of payment of customs duty would have helped their case, but they failed to exhibit the same. The failure to pay any customs duty since importing the 2nd respondent into Nigeria is a grave breach of the law and affects the revenue flow of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

“Hiding under foreign ownership to operate aircraft in Nigeria for years is nothing more than an attempt to cheat the government of revenue due to it.”

The court’s final pronouncement read, “This honourable court orders the final seizure, condemnation and forfeiture of the Bombardier BD-700 Global 6000 with registration mark 9H-GVG and manufacturer’s serial number 9470 (the 2nd respondent) at any airport in Nigeria to the Federal Government of Nigeria.”

Reacting to the judgement, Mr Okon Efut (SAN), principal partner at Okon N. Efut, SAN & Associates and counsel to the Nigeria Customs Service, commended the courage of the judiciary in ensuring that extant laws are complied with by all, irrespective of status.

He described the ruling as groundbreaking and the first of its kind in Nigeria.