Shareholders of Arik Air have demanded explanations from the airline’s Receiver Manager, Oluseye Opasanya, over the reported dismantling of a Boeing 737-700 at the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.
The Punch reported that the shareholders, in a letter dated August 17, 2026, and signed by a major shareholder, Johnson
Arumemi-Ikhide, said they had noticed what appeared to be the dismantling of an Arik aircraft and wanted clarification on its identity, ownership and security status.
The development marks the second reported incident involving the dismantling of an Arik aircraft at the Lagos airport amid continuing disputes over the airline’s assets and debts while it remains under the receivership of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria.
The shareholders also requested details of the authority and purpose behind the dismantling, as well as clarification on whether the aircraft or any of its components was connected to alleged debts owed by Arik Air to Access Bank.
They referred to a letter from Opasanya dated October 22, 2024, which allegedly mentioned an outstanding Access Bank debt and the bank’s security interest over Arik aircraft and engines.
The shareholders said they had subsequently sought the documents supporting the claim but had yet to receive satisfactory evidence.
The letter stated, “Your letter of 22 October 2024 asserted an alleged Access Bank indebtedness and security over Arik aircraft/engines. We expressly requested in our letter of 31 December 2024 the underlying documentation, which was not supplied with your letter and has not, to our knowledge, subsequently been satisfactorily produced.”
The stakeholders further disclosed that they had notified the receiver manager that the matter was also under criminal investigation by a government law enforcement agency.
“We have now observed what appears to be an ongoing dismantling of an aircraft at the domestic section of Murtala Muhammed Airport,” the shareholders said.
They consequently asked for the aircraft’s registration details, evidence of ownership, information on its security status and the legal basis for dismantling it.
According to the shareholders, the development had raised concerns about the preservation of Arik Air’s assets and the manner in which the airline was being managed under receivership.
They also made it clear that their letter should not be interpreted as consent to any transaction involving Arik’s assets and that it was issued without prejudice to their pending case before the Federal High Court.
The latest controversy follows an earlier dispute involving another Arik aircraft.
In November 2024, the Federal High Court in Lagos authorised parties linked to Export Development Canada to take custody and control of, and dismantle, a CRJ1000 aircraft, with registration number 5N-JEE, formerly operated by Arik Air.
Attempts to obtain comments from AMCON’s publicist, Jude Nwauzor, were unsuccessful, as calls and text messages sent to him had not been answered as of press time.
A WhatsApp message sent to the AMCON spokesperson also received no response.
