Nigeria Customs Seeks Forfeiture of Three Aircraft Linked to Sayyu Dantata Over ₦2.31 Billion Duty Evasion
Why It MattersThe case shows how private-aircraft owners in Nigeria remain exposed to retroactive duty enforcement years after import, tied to declared purpose and domicile status rather than possession alone.
What happened
Nigeria's Customs Service has filed a motion at the Federal High Court seeking the final seizure and forfeiture of three aircraft linked to Sayyu Dantata, founder and chairman of MRS Holdings and half-brother of Aliko Dangote, over an alleged customs duty shortfall of ₦2,312,946,260. The motion names Dantata, Bestaf Services Ltd and Metro Capital Ltd as respondents.
The three aircraft targeted are a 2011 Beechcraft King Air 350i (registration N4045A/SN-FMS, serial number FL-750), a 2013 Gulfstream G550 (registration N169SD, serial number 5455), and a 2018 Robinson R66 helicopter (registration N69D). Customs alleges the aircraft were imported into Nigeria on dates stated in the filing as 28 August 2014 and 16 June 2006, without the required declaration, permit, approval or duty payment. The Service contends that privately based aircraft permanently domiciled in Nigeria are subject to an import duty rate of five per cent of value, and that the respondents evaded that obligation by misrepresenting or failing to declare the aircraft's actual purpose and status at the time of entry.
Customs cited sections 245(1), 245(2), 245(3) and 246(a) of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023 as the statutory basis for forfeiture. The application asks the court to order final seizure, condemnation and forfeiture of all three aircraft, to vest ownership, control and possession in the Nigeria Customs Service on behalf of the Federal Government, and to authorise Customs to dispose of or manage the aircraft under the Act. The Service said the order was necessary to prevent the aircraft from being removed from the country before enforcement. The supporting affidavit was sworn by Simi Adamson of the Nigeria Customs Service Legal Department, and the case has been adjourned to 22 October 2026 for continuation of hearing. The allegations have not been established by a final judicial decision.
The valuation gap
Applying Customs' own five-per-cent duty rate to the alleged ₦2.31 billion shortfall implies a combined aircraft value of approximately ₦46.3 billion, a figure derived from Customs' internal duty computation in the court papers rather than an independent appraisal. Comparable market listings put a 2013 Gulfstream G550 at roughly $29.9 million and King Air 350i aircraft of similar vintage at $3.5 million to $5.4 million, placing the two fixed-wing aircraft alone in the region of $35 million at prevailing exchange rates.
Industry impact & what to watch
Cases like this turn on how customs valuation is reconstructed after the fact, since duty owed is being derived from an assumed value rather than the reverse. Nigeria's five-per-cent duty rate for privately based aircraft permanently domiciled in the country depends heavily on how declared purpose and status were recorded at entry, which is precisely the point Customs disputes here.
The next dated milestone is the adjourned hearing on 22 October 2026, when arguments on the forfeiture motion continue. Whether the court accepts Customs' internally derived valuation, or requires an independent appraisal closer to the market comparables cited, will matter for how the shortfall figure and any eventual forfeiture order are calculated.
