The Federal Government through the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has grounded a United States-registered jet belonging to a leading Nigerian bank,
The luxury Gulfstream G650ER plane belonging to a tier-1 bank was grounded on Sunday at Lagos airport, over unpaid import dues reportedly estimated at N1.9bn.
The NCS wrote to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and asked them to cancel the flight clearance approval given to the private aircraft.
The bank is reportedly owing unpaid import duties to the government on two formerly owned private jets (Gulfstream G450 and Gulfstream G550 aircraft), which have since been taken out of the country.
The development came barely two weeks after the NCS began a one-month verification exercise for private jet owners in the country which began on the 19th of June, 2024, expected to end on the 19th of July, 2024.
In a public notice by the Customs, the exercise is aimed at identifying private jet operators who illegally import aircraft into the country without paying the necessary import duties.
At least 80 private jet owners are expected to present their import documents and aircraft certificate of registration to the Customs in Abuja during the one-month exercise.