A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the grounding of an Emirates Airlines plane in the Nigerian airspace over a debt of 8.1million naira ($22,103).
The order followed a judgment granted by the Supreme Court after Dr. Charles Mekwunye filed a motion against the airline. This involved a suite between Promise Mekwunye and Emirates Airlines.
According to report by Vanguard, Justice Mohammed Liman granted the reliefs sought by Mekwunye.
The ruling read: “It is accordingly ordered that an attachment is hereby issued on the judgment debtor’s aircraft registered as ‘A6 Aircraft Type 77W EK: 783/784’, or any other aircraft belonging to the judgment debtor which flies into Nigeria Territory, to be arrested and detained until the judgment debt is fully paid: in default after 30 days, the aircraft shall be auctioned to satisfy the judgment debt.“
The judge also ruled that the airline must cater to the maintenance and charges that may come with the seizure of the aircraft.
