Appeal Court affirms N85m fine against bank over freezing of customer’s account

The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Monday affirmed the judgment of a HIgh Court of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, which imposed a fine of N85 million on a Commercial Bank and the Nigeria Police Force, NPF, for freezing a bank customer’s account with an invalid court order.

A three-member panel of the court, led by Justice Adebukola Banjoko, held in a unanimous judgment on Monday that the appeal filed by the commercial bank lacked merit and dismissed it.

The bank had in the appeal marked: CA/ABJ/CV/1335/2025 challenged the July 16, 2025 judgment of Justice Simon Bature of the High Court of FCT, in which the bank was ordered to unfreeze the account domiciled in its Maitama branch in Abuja and publish a public apology to the customer – Abhulimen & Co Law Firm.

The judgment of Justice Bature was on a suit marked: FCT/HC/CV/2194/2024 filed by Paulyn O. Abhulimen, SAN, with the commercial bank and the police listed as defendants.

Abhulimen had sued through the law firm of Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, claiming that in early 2024, after being unable to access the account of her firm –  Abhulimen & Co – and make transactions with it, she discovered that the bank placed a Post-no-debt (PND) on it.

The claimant stated that she subsequently contacted an official of the bank, who is in charge of the account – Obi Okafor –  who told her about the development, following which the bank, in March 13, 2024, claimed to have frozen the account based on an order obtained by the police from a Chief Magistrates Court in Mararaba Gurku, Nasarawa State.

Justice Bature, in the judgment, held among others, that the bank’s decision to freeze the customer’s 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.

The judge noted that it was unfortunate that a major financial institution, with a Legal Department, supposedly manned by lawyers, would claim to have acted on invalid order by a Magistrate Court that  lacked the jurisdiction to entertain any banking related case, including issuing orders for the freezing of a bank account.

The high court judge ordered the commercial bank and the police to jointly and severally pay the sum of N60 million to the law firm 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 judge also ordered the two defendants to jointly and severally pay the sum of N25 million to the law firm as cost litigation.

Not satisfied with the high court verdict, the bank appealed against the judgment and pleaded that it should be quashed along with the N85 million fine.

In the Court of Appeal judgment on Monday, Justice Adebukola Banjoko upheld the findings of the high court that the commercial bank acted in bad faith in freezing the customer’s account with unlawful order.

The Court of Appeal ordered the bank to pay the aggrieved customer the punitive N85 million fine.