Follow Us on Google Discover
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday ordered 12 commercial banks and six fintech platforms to freeze (place on post-no-debit) about 69 accounts following alleged fraudulent and unauthorised credit transactions on a fintech platform.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik granted the order following a motion ex parte filed by the legal representative of the Inspector-General of Police, Victor I. Okoye, Esq.
Nairametrics reports that the latest legal development is based on a petition by eTranzact, which borders on database penetration and transaction manipulation on its internet banking platform, leading to fraudulent credits to beneficiary accounts in other banks.
What they are saying
At the hearing, Okoye announced his appearance for the apex police authority.
Also Read
He subsequently adopted his processes and urged the court to grant the application.
Relying on Section 44(2)(k) and Section 251(d) of the 1999 Constitution, as well as the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, he urged the court to order the financial institutions to freeze all the affected accounts domiciled in their respective banks and allegedly used to launder the illicit funds.
He also asked the court to order the financial institutions to issue the IGP with certified true copies of the statements of account and account-opening packages of all the accounts linked to the criminal activities under investigation for further investigation.
After hearing the application, the judge granted the request.
N181 million recovered so far, substantial funds remain outstanding — IGP
According to an affidavit in support of the application, deposed to by a staff member of the Force Headquarters, Abuja, between July 27 and 28, 2026, and subsequently on August 1 and 2, 2026, multiple unauthorised interbank credit transactions were processed through eTranzact’s payment ecosystem.
Following the incidents, eTranzact was said to have activated its incident response procedure and commenced a comprehensive internal investigation through its Audit Department and relevant operational teams.
Containment measures were simultaneously implemented to mitigate further losses and preserve available evidence.
Preliminary investigations showed that the fraudulent transactions, which led to the alleged unlawful credits, did not originate from any authorised transaction-processing activity on eTranzact.
- Preliminary findings indicated that eTranzact “suffered financial exposure in the aggregate sum of N1,387,286,000,” while prompt engagement with receiving financial institutions preserved N181 million.
- “The substantial portion of the proceeds remains outstanding, with the imminent risk of being dissipated by the threat actors who are poised at concealing evidence or otherwise evade law enforcement unless urgent investigation measures are undertaken,” the affidavit partly reads.
The IGP hinted at the possible prosecution of the defendants.
What you should know
eTranzact International Plc remained profitable in 2025, posting a profit before tax of N4.2 billion, down from N5.02 billion in 2024, amid rising expenses in the year under review
The legal development adds to the growing list of post-no-debit litigation involving the police force.
- In 2025, the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered eight Nigerian commercial banks to lift (unfreeze) post-no-debit (PND) restrictions placed on 13 bank accounts that had previously been frozen following a court order obtained by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) in connection with a 2022 financial misappropriation investigation.
Justice Emeka Nwite gave the order following an ex parte motion filed by the IGP’s counsel, Wisdom Madaki, Esq.
The court was asked to unfreeze the accounts to allow the respondents to resume their normal and legitimate transactions.
