A court in Nigeria placed a mareva injunction on Shoprite a few weeks ago. This week, another has refused to hear the company’s application to lift an injunction barring the South African retail giant from moving its assets out of Nigeria. Mareva injunction is a legal ordinance that ensures assets are not taken out of a country.
Alleged business shenanigans triggered that on Shoprite’s assets in Nigeria. A Nigerian company, A.I.C. Limited, had secured a $10 million judgment against Shoprite in a breach of contract lawsuit. An appeal upheld that call; Shoprite has appealed at the Supreme Court for a reversal.
It remains debatable if Shoprite would be leaving Nigeria if that call had not gone against it. The case here is a big lesson for everyone: before you hit SEND, remember that once gone, you can never get it back. Shoprite has to create a new product: shop for the right lawyer; yes, Shoprite, shop right!
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Nigerian courts are currently on vacation and would resume on September 28. Only cases of “extreme urgency,” arrest of ship, and fundamental rights cases are to be entertained during the vacation, according to a circular by the chief judge on the federal high court, John Tsoho.
In the suit, Shoprite is seeking to overturn a July 14 “mareva injunction” by Justice Mohammed Liman of the federal high court in favour of a Nigerian firm, A.I.C. Limited.
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