It sounded like a puzzle, but it is real life story as an account holder with the United Bank for Africa (UBA), Ibhahe Hope Ehieribo was traumatised, depressed and disorganised as N100 million suddenly vanished from his account.
The development sent jitters and panic into the spines of concerned Nigerians, particularly customers that were frightened by the narration made by Ehieribo over the disappearance of his N100 million from his UBA account.
According to Ehieribo, who recently returned to Nigeria after years of working and residing abroad, accused UBA of gross negligence after discovering that over N100 million was allegedly drained off from his account to his bewilderment. Ehieribo said that the unexpected depletion followed a false death certificate that was presented which led to the fraudulent withdrawal of his life savings which he worked so hard for while he worked outside the shores of the country.
Following the development, other UBA account holders, namely Victory Oghenechoja and Sylvia Godspower have resolved to closed down their accounts in order not to fall victim.
The allegation by Ehieribo surfaced in a trending video that was recorded during a live video call with human rights advocate, Gwamnishu Harrison, who has vowed to tale appropriate legal measures to help the victim seek redress.
While explaining his nasty experience, Ehieribo said that the unfortunate incident took place two years ago, precisely in 2023 while he was still residing overseas.
Ehieribo said that he had been saving consistently into his UBA account by making deposits multiple times each year, adding however, that upon his return to Nigeria, he was baffled and stunned to his bone marrow to discover from bank officials that his entire savings had been withdrawn.
He further said that he was told by bank officials that his money was accessed by individuals who claimed he was dead and buried.
Ehieribo stressed that to his consternation, when he visited the bank to demand clarification, he discovered that there were police officers already stationed on ground to arrest him allegedly for causing a disturbance.
The troubled customer said that he merely raised his voice in shock and frustration after learning that his life savings had vanished without proper documentation and authorisation.
Commenting on the development, Harrison noted that it was a clear case of violation of the customer’s rights, thus vowed to take appropriate legal action against the bank.
Harrison however said that the headquarters of UBA reached out to him and assured that it was handling the issue.
In the words of Harrison; “UBA headquarters have reached out. Let me sit and do a video update. UBA is utterly confused and shouting in dismay.
“The man’s wife resides abroad, and he does not have sisters. The beneficiaries of his over 100 million naira are Patience and Precious. My man does not know any of them.
“It will interest you to know that before the money was awarded to unknown recipients, they obtained a Death certificate of a living being and went to probate at the high court to obtain a court order.
“Currently, the name the bank officials mentioned to us were the recipient, the victim, doesn’t know them. Please tag Central Bank of Nigeria and UBA Group. The bank will be held liable. They know what happened,” he insisted.
The management of UBA is yet to issue an official statement on the development.
