₦airaland Forum

A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, has ordered a commercial bank to pay N85million damages for freezing its customer’s account without a valid court order.

The court, in the judgement that was delivered by Justice S. U. Bature, further directed both the bank and the Nigeria Police Force, NPF, to publish a public apology to the customer, Abhulimen & Co, in two national newspapers and on its website.

Justice Bature held that the bank’s decision to freeze the account, based on a supposed order by a Magistrate Court, without notifying the said customer, was illogical and a betrayal of the banker-customer relationship that existed between the parties.

The court wondered how the financial institution which had a legal department that is manned by lawyers, hinged its action on an invalid order by a Magistrate Court that  lacked the jurisdiction to entertain any banking related case, including issuing orders for  the freezing of an account.

The judgement followed a suit marked: FCT/HC/CV/2194/2024, which was brought before the court by Mr. Paulyn O. Abhulimen, SAN.

Cited as 1st and 2nd defendants in the matter were Zenith Bank Plc and the Nigeria Police Force, NPF.

The claimant had through the law firm of Kehinde & Partners LP, approached the court, claiming that sometimes in 2024, after being unable to access the account of her firm –  Abhulimen & Co – or to make transactions with it, she discovered that the bank placed a Post-No-Debit, PND, order on it.

According to the claimant, she subsequently contacted an official of the bank that was in charge of the account, who told her about the restriction, following which the bank, in March 13, 2024, claimed to have frozen the  account based on an order the NPF obtained from a Chief Magistrates Court in Mararaba Gurku, Nasarawa State.

In his judgement, Justice Bature held that the bank acted on an invalid order made by a court that lacked the requisite jurisdiction.

“The said account was opened at the 1st defendant’s Transcorp Hilton branch, here in Abuja, and the 2nd defendant is also domiciled in Abuja.

“The rationale behind seeking the said order at a Magistrate Court under the Nasarawa State jurisdiction cannot be understood, and the 2nd defendant did not appear to be able to give any explanation or reason as to why they decided to follow this line of action.

“The said Magistrate Court lacked the territorial jurisdiction to entertain the application.

“And, regarding the substantive jurisdiction of the court to make the order, it is clear from the provisions of Section 251 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999 as amended), that matters relating to banks and banking transactions are within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, and matters relating to banker-customer disputes are jointly under the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, State High Courts and High Court of the FCT,” the court held.

Justice Bature further maintained that the Magistrate Court was bereft of the powers to entertain an application for an order to freeze a bank account of a person, and should not have entertained the said application.

“The legal department of the 1st defendant, being lawyers, should have been aware of this position of the law and taken the appropriate action in this situation, as they ought not to have obeyed the court order in the first place.

“Thus, the 1st defendant was wrong to have placed a PND on the account of the claimant based on the order of a court lacking the requisite jurisdiction to do so. I so hold,” Justice Bature held.

He judge faulted the failure of the bank to inform the claimant about its decision to freeze her company’s account, describing it as a breach of the duty of care it owed to its customers.

“It is the humble opinion of this honourable court that, the 1st defendant owed the claimant a duty of care of duly informing her that her account had been frozen.

“The 1st defendant placed a Post-No-Debit on the account of the claimant’s firm, but same was not communicated to the claimant until she encountered difficulties in the use of the said account.

“It is the humble opinion of this honourable court that, the 1st defendant owed the claimant a duty of care of duly informing her that her account had been frozen.

“The failure of the 1st defendant to inform the claimant of the state of affairs on her account amounts to negligence on the part of the 1st defendant and hence, a breach of duty of care and due diligence owed to the claimant. I so hold,” the court added.

Consequently, aside from ordering the 1st defendant to immediately vacate the Post-No-Debit order placed on the claimant’s account an to tender an apology to the claimant, the court awarded damages in favour of the litigant.

“The defendants are hereby ordered to jointly and severally pay the sum of N60million to the claimant as general damages for the embarrassment, psychological trauma, financial distress, emotional stress and grave inconveniences suffered by the claimant due to the defendants’ actions.

“The defendants are hereby ordered to jointly and severally pay the sum of N25m to the claimant as cost of this action,” the court further held.

Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/08/court-orders-bank-to-pay-n85m-for-freezing-customers-account/

Bank Must Notify You, If They Placed PND on any of your bank accounts, if they didn't notify you and freeze your bank accounts, you have the right to seek for Re-adress At High Court.

Mr Blogger, Reporting This Bank Gist To You.

Very good

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Chai, me I dey Code Red alert
Any piam from my bank i go carry them stand up

This money go take like five year before the bank go give them that money.

I pity the staff involved.. otilo

Wema bank!!!
We are NXT oooo.
Do I hv a case, even if it's just for 2 days?

The way this news sweet me ehn.......

There is a culture of impunity amongst our financial institutions in Nigeria.

This is one of the reasons I abandoned Opay.

They froze my account because an unruly customer claimed her transfer to my account was made in error after we argued on WhatsApp. I wasn't notified until another client payed in a huge sum and I realised I couldn't carry out any transaction. You froze over 1m naira because of a N20,000 dispute. All these without any prior notification or hint that someone reported a wrong transfer on my account.

Despite sending a very lengthy email, detailing my own side of the story (with evidences), my email was ignored. When I disputed the complaint, my account remained frozen with Opay siding with the first complainant (very funny move). They compelled me to refund N20,000 before I could access over 1m naira that was in my Opay wallet.

After the refund, I texted the client and promised that I will sue both her and Opay in court. Guess what? She apologised and resent the N20,000 claiming she was angry, that was why she acted that way.

I mean how do you as a financial institution act and judge based on only one side of a story?

Na so I jejely transferred all my money from Opay. Till today, they still warn customers who try to send money into my Opay that my account is a "potential risk". Even though I have abandoned the account, the day I will have their time, we will meet in court.


Then you see Ecobank, those are another set of thieves. I will surely drag those ones to court before this month runs out Insha Jesus. Fraudulent lots!

donleo92:
This money go take like five year before the bank go give them that money.

I pity the staff involved.. otilo

Mr Blogger Is Always Available To Update You

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post=136382604:
Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/08/court-orders-bank-to-pay-n85m-for-freezing-customers-account/

good one

they will think twice next time before hoodwinking customers

This is an eye opener for both the customer and the bank. As they say, respect is reciprocal.

News like these are good to prevent impunity. But then again, fraudsters will have a field day!

Imagine one of them bad men is being investigated, and their accounts placed on PND... Once bank notifies them of the PND, they'll never show up; especially when they suspect that the police or efcc is on their trail.

Them fit no pay this money shaaa, banks no dey pay all this court fines.

TallNigerian:
Till today, they still warn customers who try to send money into my Opay that my account is a "potential risk". Even though I have abandoned the account, the day I will have their time, we will meet in court.!

They labelled you a potential risk. that is defamatory especially when you are a business man and you have not taken legal action.
E be like say you no like money

If Nigerians inbibe the culture of suing whenever they are wronged like Americans, many things will be set right.

All these nonsense that banks and networks do and everyone just ignore and move on will be set right.

Class action lawsuits.

AllBlack:
They labelled you a potential risk. that is defamatory especially when you are a business man and you have not taken legal action.
E be like say you no like money

My brother, I never just reason their matter. But as you don ginger me now, I will test the legality of their actions in court by God's grace.

A lot of Nigerians don't even know that to file a lawsuit in the Federal High Court costs less than N4000. And there are even lawyers that offer quality pro bono services in Nigeria as part of their social responsibility.

Hopefully these banks will start learning some needed lessons. How can you freeze my own account with my hard earned money without any judicial backing all because you think you're too big to be questioned? I hope the despondent push this to the very end because those m0f0 will want to appeal and deploy their intimidation tactics.

Una dn see the reason why if scammers move ur money from ur account, bank no dey freeze the account of the scammer. To avoid things like this.

Magistrate don put bank for high jump!

Small thing, banks have rushed to post PND on accounts

Good sanity must be returned to our financial systems , I have been a vicim of PND by dubious bank in Nigeria, they never inform you until you visit customer scare department that arrogantly tell you a PND has been put on your account, in most cases they don't event tell you why.

A lazy bank staff that had a bad day just decides to put a PND on your account because they hate the color of your dress.

Then there is the abuse of magistrate court by the police , I sometimes wonder if the judges in the magistrate are real judges , they operate like touts, you see them in mobile court operations done by FRSC in conjunction with police used to extort monies from motorists.

Banks rely on you not knowing your rights to exploit you, even when you know your rights you still have to fight for your rights.

The owner of he business had the means to go to court, if they didnt that money would remain frozen and stolen by the bank staff.

This matter would not have gone to court if we had a FUNCTIONAL regulatory body for banks in Nigeria, unfortunate, WE DO NOT HAVE A FUNCTIONAL REGULATORY BODY FOR FINANCIAL INSITIUTIONS IN NIGERIA.

Dem still dey offer pro bono in this tinubu era? Just asking o. 🤨

TallNigerian:
My brother, I never just reason their matter. But as you don ginger me now, I will test the legality of their actions in court by God's grace.

A lot of Nigerians don't even know that to file a lawsuit in the Federal High Court costs less than N4000. And there are even lawyers that offer quality pro bono services in Nigeria as part of their social responsibility.

TallNigerian:
The way this news sweet me ehn.......

There is a culture of impunity amongst our financial institutions in Nigeria.

This is one of the reasons I abandoned Opay.

They froze my account because an unruly customer claimed her transfer to my account was made in error after we argued on WhatsApp. I wasn't notified until another client payed in a huge sum and I realised I couldn't carry out any transaction. You froze over 1m naira because of a N20,000 dispute. All these without any prior notification or hint that someone reported a wrong transfer on my account.

Despite sending a very lengthy email, detailing my own side of the story (with evidences), my email was ignored. When I disputed the complaint, my account remained frozen with Opay siding with the first complainant (very funny move). They compelled me to refund N20,000 before I could access over 1m naira that was in my Opay wallet.

After the refund, I texted the client and promised that I will sue both her and Opay in court. Guess what? She apologised and resent the N20,000 claiming she was angry, that was why she acted that way.

I mean how do you as a financial institution act and judge based on only one side of a story?

Na so I jejely transferred all my money from Opay. Till today, they still warn customers who try to send money into my Opay that my account is a "potential risk". Even though I have abandoned the account, the day I will have their time, we will meet in court.


Then you see Ecobank, those are another set of thieves. I will surely drag those ones to court before this month runs out Insha Jesus. Fraudulent lots!

Use branch or palmpay. The day I knew opay is not for me was when my phone was stolen. I've been using palmpay mostly tho.
But I get small change for opay, I called their customer care with another line naso dem dey Wyn me till those guys comot my money.
I chatted palmpay through another palmpay account and they lock my account straight to save my money from those thieves

TallNigerian:
The way this news sweet me ehn.......

There is a culture of impunity amongst our financial institutions in Nigeria.

This is one of the reasons I abandoned Opay.

They froze my account because an unruly customer claimed her transfer to my account was made in error after we argued on WhatsApp. I wasn't notified until another client payed in a huge sum and I realised I couldn't carry out any transaction. You froze over 1m naira because of a N20,000 dispute. All these without any prior notification or hint that someone reported a wrong transfer on my account.

Despite sending a very lengthy email, detailing my own side of the story (with evidences), my email was ignored. When I disputed the complaint, my account remained frozen with Opay siding with the first complainant (very funny move). They compelled me to refund N20,000 before I could access over 1m naira that was in my Opay wallet.

After the refund, I texted the client and promised that I will sue both her and Opay in court. Guess what? She apologised and resent the N20,000 claiming she was angry, that was why she acted that way.

I mean how do you as a financial institution act and judge based on only one side of a story?

Na so I jejely transferred all my money from Opay. Till today, they still warn customers who try to send money into my Opay that my account is a "potential risk". Even though I have abandoned the account, the day I will have their time, we will meet in court.


Then you see Ecobank, those are another set of thieves. I will surely drag those ones to court before this month runs out Insha Jesus. Fraudulent lots!

So sorry about your ordeal. On the flip side, Opay has helped me recover money I sent to a scammer, thinking we were doing a legitimate business. All relevant evidence was sent to Opay, and it took about 3 weeks for me to receive my full amount. In my scenario, the scammer had no defence. If i am doing business with anyone that involves a money transfer, i make sure i leave a trail communication should the person misbehave and i always ask for opay, i don't want anyone to steal my hard earned money and move

I pity Union Bank, they ganged up and freezed my account without notifying me and without any valuable reason. I am coming for them, that 8,800 naira in that account will turn to millions soon, they should wait for me, they will pay me every penny for the damages they did to me

TallNigerian:
The way this news sweet me ehn.......

There is a culture of impunity amongst our financial institutions in Nigeria.

This is one of the reasons I abandoned Opay.

They froze my account because an unruly customer claimed her transfer to my account was made in error after we argued on WhatsApp. I wasn't notified until another client payed in a huge sum and I realised I couldn't carry out any transaction. You froze over 1m naira because of a N20,000 dispute. All these without any prior notification or hint that someone reported a wrong transfer on my account.

Despite sending a very lengthy email, detailing my own side of the story (with evidences), my email was ignored. When I disputed the complaint, my account remained frozen with Opay siding with the first complainant (very funny move). They compelled me to refund N20,000 before I could access over 1m naira that was in my Opay wallet.

After the refund, I texted the client and promised that I will sue both her and Opay in court. Guess what? She apologised and resent the N20,000 claiming she was angry, that was why she acted that way.

I mean how do you as a financial institution act and judge based on only one side of a story?

Na so I jejely transferred all my money from Opay. Till today, they still warn customers who try to send money into my Opay that my account is a "potential risk". Even though I have abandoned the account, the day I will have their time, we will meet in court.


Then you see Ecobank, those are another set of thieves. I will surely drag those ones to court before this month runs out Insha Jesus. Fraudulent lots!

I had similar experience too. The issue wasn't rectified till I threatened to report to CBN customer service unit, I will try make a post on it this weekend.

obotematics:
Chai, me I dey Code Red alert
Any piam from my bank i go carry them stand up

U get money to sue bank ?



17 more cateres needed

OlujobaSamuel:
I had similar experience too. The issue wasn't rectified till I threatened to report to CBN customer service unit, I will try make a post on it this weekend.

please do, I'd love to learn from it. Kindly tag me when you do

tollyboy5:
Use branch or palmpay. The day I knew opay is not for me was when my phone was stolen. I've been using palmpay mostly tho.
But I get small change for opay, I called their customer care with another line naso dem dey Wyn me till those guys comot my money.
I chatted palmpay through another palmpay account and they lock my account straight to save my money from those thieves

I agree absolutely with you. Someone scammed me of 250k in 2021. Palmpay blocked the person's account immediately and contacted her to explain her part. She couldn't.

The sad part is that the lady abandoned the account and the money is still there till date. They asked me to get a court order which I didn't think was worth it. The lady had withdrawn 80k out of the money before I was able to report.

Palmpay is way better than Opay

ExudeLoveToAll:
So sorry about your ordeal. On the flip side, Opay has helped me recover money I sent to a scammer, thinking we were doing a legitimate business. All relevant evidence was sent to Opay, and it took about 3 weeks for me to receive my full amount. In my scenario, the scammer had no defence. If i am doing business with anyone that involves a money transfer, i make sure i leave a trail communication should the person misbehave and i always ask for opay, i don't want anyone to steal my hard earned money and move

This is a positive development. If they can ascertain that the transaction was a scam, I support it. But not when the second party has provided substantial evidence to show it was not a fraudulent transaction. Infact, at some point out of frustration, I told them to lock the 20k in dispute and allow me access the remaining funds so I can deliver to my clients, they refused. It was really frustrating but I understand it could be a positive development sometimes especially in the event of an actual scam.

I once reported a scam by a Palmpay user too in 2021. They locked her account immediately but they contacted her immediately and asked her to provide a counter statement. She couldn't.
Although I couldn't access the money cos they asked me to get a court order which I didn't think was worth it as she had withdrawn more than half of the money before I could report. The difference here is fair hearing.

HOSTCOM:
Dem still dey offer pro bono in this tinubu era? Just asking o. 🤨

Yes bro.

1. Legal Aid Council
2. The Justice Project
3. Network of Pro Bono Lawyers
4. Hope Behind Bars Africa
5. Access to Justice

Infact more than 30 of them. Some are focused on human rights, while other provide free legal service across board.

Even Femi Falana, Festus Keyamo and Gani Fawehinmi Law Firms provide pro bono on specific cases.

People Here In Nigeria Are Fond Of Always Taking Laws Into There hands ..


.....This Same Thing Is Happening To Me Currently,An Engineer Was In Search Of A Product By Himself And At The End Of the day he Purchased A Product From Me Around May This Year And Conveyed It From Lagos To Abuja And After 3 Weeks I discovered That My Company Account Was Locked { Placing Of Lien } Just Like This Without Any Notice Or Whatsoever

...I Later Discovered That The Person Who Sent The Engineer Who I Have Never For Ones Have Any Conversation With Was Behind The Whole Thing..This Matter Still In Court Till Now
The Way Banks Are Handling There Customers Account Are So Bad Menn