Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja has ruled in favor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the United Bank of Africa (UBA) in a N301 million lawsuit brought against them by Babatunde Victor, an aggrieved customer, over the alleged unlawful freezing of his bank account.
The judge dismissed the suit on the grounds that the CBN and UBA froze the account, numbered 2116708900 and held at UBA, in compliance with a court order.
In delivering the judgment, Justice Nwite emphasized that the CBN’s acquisition of a court order prior to freezing the account rendered the action lawful.
Victor had filed the lawsuit against the CBN and UBA, seeking N301 million in compensation for what he claimed was the unlawful freezing of his account from 2021 until the present. He asserted that he had not been informed of any reason before a post-no debit restriction was imposed on the account by UBA at the behest of CBN.
The plaintiff argued that the freezing of his account constituted a violation of his fundamental rights to property ownership and resulted in significant hardship and embarrassment.
In response, the CBN stated that the account was frozen during investigations into allegations of terrorism funding, with a court order obtained to freeze it for 90 days. The CBN also contended that once the order was overturned, the post-no debit restriction on the account was lifted.
After reviewing the evidence, Justice Nwite noted that there was no dispute regarding the existence of a court order authorizing the account freeze. He further observed that the plaintiff did not contest the CBN’s assertion that the restriction was lifted upon the issuance of a counter order.
Consequently, the judge found no merit in the case and dismissed it, stating, “I make an order dismissing it and it is hereby dismissed for want of merit.”
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