Another Arik Air aircraft, a Boeing 737-700, is being dismantled at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos amid a dispute over an alleged debt owed to Access Bank.
Gatekeepers News reports that the aircraft is located between the Civil Aviation Flying Unit hangar and the Air Force helicopter hangar at the domestic wing of the airport.
Findings by The Guardian showed that the dismantling has been ongoing for about a month, with several components, including avionics, radome, interior fittings and doors, removed.
Johnson Arumemi-Ikhide, chairman of Arik Air, however, denied that the airline defaulted on its obligations to Access Bank before the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) took over the airline.
Speaking with The Guardian, Arumemi-Ikhide said any developments concerning the airline after the takeover should be explained by the receiver-manager, who is responsible for its day-to-day management and fiduciary obligations.
Arumemi-Ikhide said the receiver-manager contacted Arik shareholders in October 2024 over the alleged indebtedness to Access Bank and the security over the airline’s aircraft and engines.
According to him, the shareholders responded in December 2024, requesting the underlying documents to verify the alleged debt, but the documents had yet to be provided.
He also said the matter was being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), with Access Bank and Arik shareholders assisting investigators who requested records of the alleged loans for forensic examination.
The Arik chairman added that shareholders observed the dismantling of the Boeing 737-700 last week and wrote to the receiver-manager on August 17 seeking clarification.
He expressed concern over what he described as the destruction of Arik’s assets under “pretexts of all sorts unverified loans” and called for an investigation.
Aircraft sold after due process, receiver says
Simon Tumba, media consultant to Arik Air in receivership, however, said the aircraft was sold after all necessary procedures and legal requirements had been fulfilled.
Tumba told The Guardian that the aircraft had been secured in favour of Access Bank, which provided the relevant security documents to Arik Air and subsequently to AMCON.
He said the documents were verified as genuine and that neither Arik Air nor AMCON objected to the bank’s exercise of its security rights, including the sale of the aircraft.
“The aircraft was subject to security in favour of Access Bank. The bank provided the relevant security documentation to Arik Air and subsequently to AMCON, and the documentation was verified as genuine.
“Accordingly, Arik Air and AMCON did not object to Access Bank’s exercise of its security rights, including the sale of the aircraft. We understand that the bank has now completed the sale,” he said.
Second Arik aircraft dismantled
The development marks the second controversy involving the dismantling of an Arik Air aircraft under AMCON.
In November 2024, the Federal High Court in Lagos authorised parties connected to Export Development Canada (EDC), a Canadian financial institution, to take custody, control and dismantle a controversial CRJ1000 aircraft with registration number 5N-JEE, formerly operated by Arik Air.
Justice Alexander Oluseyi Owoeye, in a judgment delivered on November 27, 2024, also restrained the EFCC from harassing, intimidating, detaining or threatening the applicants or their contractor over the discharge of their lawful civil obligations concerning the aircraft.
The judgment followed a dispute over the ownership and repossession of the CRJ1000, which had been removed from Arik Air’s operational fleet several years earlier.
