The Federal High Court in Port Harcourt has granted an order to arrest and detain the crude oil cargo on board the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) Vessel Tamara Tokoni belonging to General Hydrocarbons Ltd (GHL).
Justice E. A. Obile made the order based on an application by the First Bank of Nigeria Ltd. The defendants are GHL, the cargo of crude oil on board FPSO Tamara Tokoni, its owners/operators and the master of the vessel.
GHL is an oil exploration firm owned by Mr Nduka Obaigbena, Chairman of Arise TV and publisher of ThisDay Newspapers.
Recall that First Bank and Obaigbena are embroiled in a legal dispute over an alleged $225million transaction.
Premium Times, an online newspaper, reported yesterday that based on the order, FPSO Vessel Tamara Tokoni was arrested by the Navy. The newspaper said the arrest was made in the early hours of yesterday on the high sea.
The bank had obtained a Mareva injunction from the Federal High Court in Lagos restraining all banks in Nigeria from releasing funds to GHL and its directors Obaigbena, Efe Damilola Obaigbena and Olabisi Eka Obaigbena.
In the latest order dated January 9, a copy of which our reporter obtained yesterday, Justice Obile held: “That order is granted arresting and/or attaching and/or liening the entire cargo of crude oil on board the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FSPO) vessel Tamara Tokoni presently located at Rivers State or wherever she may be found within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court pending the provision of a satisfactory guarantee from a first class Nigerian bank in the sum of $19,752,304.84 plus interest and costs by the said defendants to secure the plaintiff’s claim herein, until this Honourable Court otherwise orders.”
A lien is the right to keep possession of property belonging to another person until a debt owed by that person is discharged.
The court mandated the Navy, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Harbour Master of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to enforce the order.
