Chinese Investors to Sell Nigerian Guest Houses on eBay for $2.2 Million

A group of Chinese investors, Zhongshang Fucheng Industrial Investment Ltd, has allegedly taken over two houses in Liverpool, UK, that used to belong to the Nigerian government.

They plan to sell these houses on eBay for a total of $2.2 million. This action follows a long legal battle where Nigeria did not pay a debt it owed, leading to the seizure of these properties.

The houses are located at 15 Aigburth Hall Road and Beech Lodge, 49 Calderstones Road. They were seized because of a UK court decision in December 2021 that allowed the Chinese group to take Nigerian properties to cover a $70 million debt, which grows by 2% every month.

Zhongshang won $55.675 million plus interest and legal costs back in March 2021 after arguing that Nigeria’s Ogun State broke a trade agreement from 2001 by taking back rights to a trade zone in 2016.

This situation is part of a bigger problem for Nigeria, which almost had to pay $11 billion to another company, P&ID, but didn’t because of discovered corruption.

Courts in Europe have consistently allowed the Chinese group to take Nigerian properties, not just in the UK but also in other countries like Belgium and France. A US court also recently said that Nigeria couldn’t use state protection to stop Zhongshang from collecting the debt.

A consultant for Zhongshang said they plan to list the houses for sale on eBay and that this sale will be public because the Nigerian people deserve to know what’s happening. The houses weren’t part of Nigeria’s diplomatic buildings, so they weren’t protected from being taken.

In June 2024, a UK judge confirmed that since the houses were rented out for business, they could be legally seized.