The Canadian new owner of a former Arik Air CRJ1000 has entered a dispute in Nigeria over its sale and teardown, condemning the intimidation of its appointed agent in Lagos and attempts to stop the retrieval of the aircraft.
In a statement to local media, Alberta Aviation Capital Corporation, Canada (AAC) and Lagos-based cargo specialist Merchant Express Cargo Airlines accused Arik Air (under receivership) founder and majority shareholder Johnson Arumemi Ikhide and his lawyers of using the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), a Nigerian law enforcement agency focused on financial crimes, "to intimidate the authorised agents of the legal owners of the aircraft in an effort to stop the owners from taking their aircraft in whatever form they choose back to Canada".
The companies also expressed support for their agent, pilot Samuel Caulcrick, who was detained at the weekend in connection with the sale and tearing down of 5N-JEE (msn 19037). AAC reportedly appointed Caulcrick and Merchant Express Cargo Limited to handle the part-out of the aircraft. Caulcrick was detained alongside Arik Air receiver-manager Omokide Kamilu Alaba, who decried his arrest as a smear campaign.
"The defaults in Arik Air's obligations led to the deregistration of the aircraft by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) from the NCAA's registry, [on] July 22, 2022 [with] consent by the lien holder, the Export Development Canada (EDC), and ownership reverted to the EDC, the mortgagee. The aircraft currently has a Canadian registry allocation".
They stated: "We categorically state that Capt. Caulcrick was an authorised agent of the new Canadian owners (AAC) of the aircraft, and the process for the recovery of the aircraft followed all due processes, all of which are properly documented. Until contracted on the teardown project, neither Merchant Express nor Capt. Caulcrick had [anything] to do with the cancelled lease or the deregistration of the aircraft by the NCAA".
ch-aviation has reached out to both companies for comment.
An EDC spokesperson confirmed to ch-aviation that EDC and JEM Leasing deregistered the aircraft in the summer of 2022 and sold the aircraft to AAC in December 2022.
As reported, EDC earlier this week said it had provided financing to JEM Leasing Limited on June 25, 2014, to purchase several aircraft from Bombardier Aerospace (BBA, Montréal Trudeau), to be leased to and operated by Arik Air.
JEM Leasing reportedly called for a criminal investigation into claims by Arik Air that it was removing its sole CRJ1000 from its fleet because the lessor and financier decided to sell the aircraft.
