An FCT High Court has slammed N85m fine on Zenith Bank Plc and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) for unlawfully freezing the account of a law firm, Abhulimen & Co., without a valid court order.
Justice S. U. Bature, in a judgment also directed both the bank and the police to tender a public apology to the firm in two national newspapers and on their websites.
The court held that the bank acted on an invalid order from a Magistrate Court in Mararaba, Nasarawa State, which lacked the territorial and substantive jurisdiction to issue any banking-related orders, including a Post-No-Debit (PND) instruction.
The judge described the bank’s reliance on the order as “illogical” and a breach of the fiduciary duty owed to its customer, noting that the bank’s legal department should have known the law better.
The suit, marked FCT/HC/CV/2194/2024, was instituted by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Paulyn O. Abhulimen, after discovering that her firm’s account had been restricted without notice.
Justice Bature awarded N60m in general damages and N25m as cost of litigation, faulting the bank for failing to notify the claimant and for acting on an order from a court with no authority to entertain banking disputes.
The judge further ordered the immediate lifting of the PND restriction and emphasised that only the Federal High Court or competent High Courts have jurisdiction over such matters.
