A Federal High Court in Lagos has barred Diamond Bank from repossessing a Dash 8-300 from TopBrass Aviation (BRL, Lagos) for debts, PM News has reported.
The judge said that because of a debt restructuring agreement concluded in 2015, the bank was no longer entitled to repossess the aircraft, 5N-TBA (msn 608).
The bank initially loaned the airline USD9.45 million in 2012 for the acquisition of the Bombardier Aerospace turboprop, with the aircraft itself mortgaged as a collateral. By May 2015, the airline accumulated substantial debt on the mortgage rates. A subsequent agreement from June 2015, however, restructured the loan and excluded the aircraft as a collateral asset, the court said.
The judge also pointed out that the bank tried to wrongfully repossess the aircraft directly from South African maintenance company ExecuJet. Diamond Back approached the MRO provider and said that it had the right to repossess the turboprop due to TopBrass' debts. It also did not inform ExecuJet about the 2015 loan restructuring.
The aircraft is currently stored at Lagos as TopBrass Aviation itself is dormant.
The Nigerian carrier is separately fighting in court over the ownership of two other Dash 8-300s, 5N-TBB (msn 613) and 5N-TBC (msn 614). TopBrass Aviation continues to claim that Seagold Investment Limited unlawfully repossessed the aircraft before the dry-lease term expired. A hearing in the case is scheduled by January 15, 2019, the Guardian has reported.
