Court awards N50m damages against bank

A Federal High Court, Lagos has awarded N50 million damages against Unity Bank plc in favour of Umar Abubakar Kasadiya, owner of Phoenix Security Service and Leasing Limited, whose accounts were unlawfully frozen for over 10 years.

The trial judge, A.O. Faji ruled that the bank violated the fundamental right of the plaintiffs under section 44 of the 1999 Constitution (as altered).

Justice Faji ordered the bank to allow Kasadiya access to the said account without delay and forthwith.

Unity Bank had on July 16, 2014, frozen the accounts of Phoenix Security Service and Leasing Limited, and denied the owner (Kasadiya) from having access to the accounts without first obtaining a lawful court order.

Kasadiya had through his counsel, Funmilola Salami, sued the bank and the Inspector General of Police (IGP), ­­­­for freezing his company’s account.

In the originating motion filed on December 9, 2022, Salami requested an order from the court to direct the Bank to unfreeze and remove all restrictions on his company’s bank accounts without further delay.

Justifying their action, the bank explained that the account was so restricted because of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) regulation on Bank Verification Number (BVN), which was violated when Kasadiya did not link his account with the Company’s account.

The bank explained further that the restriction was placed by the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and there was no court order for that purpose.

The bank added that it only responded to the EFCC letter in 2014, instructing them to restrict the account.

The judge while giving his judgment said ignorance of the law is no excuse and that the bank acted negligently.

“I must therefore hold that the restriction without a valid court order is unlawful and a violation of the fundamental rights of the applicants under Section 44 of the constitution.

The Applicant must be granted access to the said account without delay and forthwith.

“As regards damages, it is not in doubt that Unity Bank has exhibited high-handedness in this matter and held onto the account of Phoenix Security Services and Leasing Limited since July 16, 2014 – almost 10 years ago.

This is totally unacceptable and must not be encouraged,” the judge held.