Banks Seize Nestoil Over $1bn Debt, Police Seal Lagos Headquarters

|By Babatunji Wusu

A consortium of Nigerian banks has taken control of Nestoil Limited after a Federal High Court in Lagos approved a receivership order over alleged unpaid debts exceeding $1 billion.

Armed operatives of the Nigeria Police Force on Tuesday sealed off the company’s corporate headquarters in Victoria Island, Lagos, following the enforcement of the Mareva injunction issued on October 22, 2025.

Justice D.I. Dipeolu granted First Trustees and FBNQuest Merchant Bank authority to assume control of the oil and gas firm’s assets. The order also cited Nestoil’s affiliate, Neconde Energy Limited, and its principal promoters, Ernest and Nnenna Azudialu-Obiejesi.

The court further directed 18 financial institutions — including Citibank, Fidelity Bank, GTBank, Providus Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Opay, Sterling Bank, Polaris Bank, Unity Bank and others — to immediately freeze all assets linked to the defendants pending the full hearing next month.

Justice Dipeolu restrained all transactions involving $1,012,608,386.91 and N430,014,064,380.77 — the alleged total indebtedness as of September 30, 2025.

Additional liabilities personally guaranteed by Ernest Azudialu-Obiejesi were also listed, including over N366.8 billion, $61.2 million, $152 million and N10.4 billion owed to Access Bank, First Bank and Zenith Bank.

The court order triggers one of the biggest corporate debt recovery actions in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector in recent history.