A High Court in the Abakaliki Judicial Division of Ebonyi State has ordered Eco Bank PLC, alongside key individuals from the Maize Growers, Processors & Marketers Association of Nigeria (MAGPAMAN), to pay N10 million in damages to Nzubechi Okoro for their role in the fraudulent use of his bank details.
Okoro, a businessman based in Delta State who hails from Ebonyi State, brought his case to court after discovering that his Bank Verification Number (BVN) had been blacklisted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). This unfortunate turn came after a mysterious loan was taken out under his name, supposedly linked to the Federal Government’s Anchor Borrowers’ Scheme.
The plaintiff accused Eco Bank (the first defendant), along with MAGPAMAN’s Ebonyi State Executive Chairman, Mr. Ebere Oji Odii (the second defendant), Ohaozara LGA Coordinator, Mrs. Patience Nwabueze (the third defendant), and MAGPAMAN itself (the fourth defendant), of colluding to misuse his BVN and bank details to secure funding from the bank. The fraudulent scheme involved the opening of an account at Eco Bank’s Ezza Road branch in Abakaliki.
In a decisive ruling on June 28, 2024, concerning Suit No. HAB/169/2022, Justice Chris Eze pointed out that neither Eco Bank nor Odii could substantiate their defense, failing to prove that Okoro was a farmer eligible for the Anchor Borrowers’ Fund. Instead, they raised doubts about his claims, asserting he was a businessman dealing in musical and electronic equipment.
The judge further noted that Okoro successfully demonstrated he had never withdrawn any funds from the account implicated, directly countering the defendants’ claim of a suspicious withdrawal of N555,531.82.
“The 1st and 2nd defendants left the evidence of the plaintiff completely unchallenged. This is fatal to their case. The Court holds that the plaintiff has proven his case on the balance of probabilities,” the ruling stated.
The judge declared, “The defendants shall jointly and severally pay to the plaintiff the sum of Ten Million Naira (N10,000,000.00) as general damages for the financial loss, embarrassment, emotional and psychological trauma, and pain suffered by the plaintiff due to the blacklisting of his BVN, resulting from the unlawful and fraudulent actions of the 2nd to 4th defendants in collusion with the 1st defendant.”
