An Arik Air Boeing 737 aircraft stationed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos has been dismantled by engineers following ongoing debt recovery proceedings linked to Access Bank.
A Boeing 737-700 belonging to Arik Air is currently being dismantled at Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos, sparked by an alleged debt owed to Access Bank.
However, Arik Air Chairman Johnson Arumemi-Ikhide rejected claims of a default, asserting that the airline was not in arrears on its financial commitments to the bank prior to being taken over by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).
Speaking with The Guardian, Arumemi-Ikhide clarified that any actions taken post-takeover fall under the receiver-manager’s purview, given their control over daily operations and fiduciary duties. The Guardian confirmed the aircraft’s physical location between the Civil Aviation Flying Unit hangar and the Air Force helicopter hangar at the Lagos airport’s domestic wing.
The dismantling has reportedly been underway for roughly a month with workers removing critical components including avionics, the radome, interior fittings and doors.
Arumemi-Ikhide stated that the receiver-manager approached Arik’s shareholders in October 2024 regarding the alleged Access Bank debt and the security tied to the airline’s fleet and engines. He noted that while shareholders requested supporting documentation in December 2024 to verify the claim, those records have still not been provided.
Arumemi-Ikhide noted that the EFCC is actively investigating the situation, with both Access Bank and Arik’s shareholders cooperating by submitting loan records for forensic review. He added that after shareholders spotted the ongoing teardown of the Boeing 737-700 last week, they formally wrote to the receiver-manager on August 17 to demand a full explanation.
Arumemi-Ikhide raised alarm over the dismantling, condemning what he termed the destruction of Arik’s assets under the guise of “unverified loans” and demanding an official investigation into the affair. Countering those claims, Simon Tumba, Media Consultant for Arik Air in Receivership, maintained that the aircraft was legally sold following full compliance with all requisite statutory procedures.
Tumba informed The Guardian that the Boeing 737-700 served as collateral for Access Bank, which furnished all necessary security documentation directly to Arik Air and later to AMCON. He emphasized that after verifying the papers as authentic neither the airline nor AMCON raised any objections to Access Bank executing its security rights to sell the asset.
Tumba added that the aircraft served as collateral for Access Bank which provided all verified security documentation to both Arik Air and AMCON. With neither entity objecting to the bank enforcing its rights, Tumba confirmed that Access Bank has officially completed the sale of the asset.
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This marks the second major dispute over an Arik Air aircraft being scrapped while under AMCON receivership.
In November 2024, the Federal High Court in Lagos granted approval to parties affiliated with Export Development Canada (EDC) to take possession, control and dismantle a disputed CRJ1000 regional jet (registration 5N-JEE) previously operated by the airline.
In that November 27, 2024 verdict, Justice Alexander Oluseyi Owoeye issued an injunction barring the EFCC from harassing, intimidating, detaining or threatening the applicants and their contractors as they carried out their legal obligations regarding the aircraft.
The judgment put an end to a high-stakes ownership and repossession dispute involving the CRJ1000 which Arik Air had grounded and removed from its active flight schedule several years prior.
