A District Court in Abuja has ordered United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc and one Aminu Hassan Anslem to jointly refund ₦204,129 and pay ₦5 million in damages to a customer, Ekebire Jonah, over unauthorized debits from his bank account.
Delivering judgment on April 14, 2025, District Judge Ekwoaba Anthony Chigozie found UBA negligent for failing to act on Jonah’s prompt complaint about suspicious transactions that occurred between May 31 and June 1, 2021.
Despite Jonah alerting the bank immediately, further debits went through while he was physically present in the bank.
Jonah’s account was hit with two debits of ₦100,053.75 on May 31, and smaller amounts totaling ₦4,021.50 the next day. The funds were transferred to an account at Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) allegedly owned by Anslem, who never appeared in court nor filed a defense.
Jonah presented evidence including his bank statement, a UBA email acknowledging the complaint, and a formal letter to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). He accused UBA of not blocking his card or removing his account from the mobile banking platform even after his alert.
UBA claimed Jonah’s credentials were compromised and that the transactions were authorized via OTPs. However, the court found discrepancies in UBA’s defense—particularly that the OTPs cited were unrelated to the actual transactions and that their internal report lacked objectivity.
Citing Section 37(3) of the Cybercrimes Act 2015, which mandates banks to reverse unauthorized debits within 72 hours, the court ruled that UBA failed in its legal duty. It ordered the refund of the stolen funds and ₦5 million in general damages.
The request for litigation cost reimbursement was denied, with each party to bear its own expenses.
This ruling is being hailed as a victory for consumer protection and a warning to Nigerian banks to take fraud complaints more seriously and act swiftly.
