Two employees of a subsidiary of Keystone Bank Plc
Joachim Nnosiri and Uguru Onyike have admitted that
they were coerced to make false allegations of forgery
against former Managing Director, Bank PHB Plc Francis
Atuche.
Keystone came into being after acquiring Bank PHB's
assets.
Both men who work with the Central Shared Services
Centre of Keystone Bank made the claims in separate bail
applications filed before a Lagos High Court in Ikeja on
Thursday.
Nnosiri and Onyike were both arraigned on March 26
along with Atuche for alleged forgery.
In the charges filed before Justice Adeiniyi Onigbanjo, the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission alleged that
the defendants had on March 4, attempted to smuggle
forged board resolutions of some companies into
Keystone Bank's records at its headquarters in Lagos.
Contrary to EFCC's claim, both men said they had brought
the documents to the attention of the bank authorities
acting on a subpoena issued by Justice Lateefat Okunnu
also of the Lagos High Court in Ikeja.
Okunnu had issued the subpoena on the bank asking it
to produce the documents in respect of a N25.7bn theft
charges preferred against Atuche, his wife, Elizabeth; and
former Financial Officer of Bank PHB, Ugo Anyanwu.
In their affidavits attached to their bail applications, they
maintained that they found the documents in the
possession of Keystone Bank, and were only forced to
accuse Atuche of trying to smuggle the documents into the
bank.
The affidavits were filed through their counsel, Messrs
Clement Onwuenwunor and Bamidele Adewunmi.
On his part, Nnosiri claimed that he found the board
resolutions in the bundle of documents being rearranged
in the CSS department and forwarded them to Onyike,
who was his supervisor.
Nnosiri stated, "I was locked up in the office of Mr Waidi
Gbadamosi, the chief inspector of the bank till about 10
pm in the night.
"He and other senior officers of the bank surrounded and
threatened me for insisting that the documents were at
our department.
"I was forced to change the statement and to say that the
documents were given to me by Atuche which I did at the
EFCC so as to secure my job."

Source:: The Punch