Some bank customers of various banks in the country have lamented the increasing spate of ‘illegal’ withdrawals from their accounts.
Some of the customers who were victims of the act said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Monday.
They described the act as fraudulent which the authorities must urgently address.
They also alleged that most illegal deductions in banks were being done in connivance with bank staff.
A customer with one of the new generation banks, Miss Helen Isiguzu, said that fraud was being perpetrated in almost all the banks unlike before, adding that it was more rampant in some banks.
“What is happening in banks these days is discouraging me from depositing my money with them.
“No wonder the Central Bank of Nigeria said there is so much money in the hands of Nigerians outside the banks.
When I contacted higher authorities in the bank, they investigated and my money was refunded.
“They did not tell me the result of their investigation but from their responses, it was an insider thing. I now ask, what if I didn’t know who to contact,’’ she said.
A former banker, Mr Louis Otagoro, appealed to the Chartered Institute of Bankers to ensure that only trained professionals practise in the industry.
“The CIBN should step up actions to ensure that banking profession does not become an all comers affair,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, the President of the CIBN, Ken Opara, had said that the council was resolute and committed to the observance and maintenance of ethics and professionalism among practitioners in the banking industry.
The Executive Vice Chairman of the FCCPC, Mr Babatunde Irukera, had also said they were engaging with banks to address consumer-related issues.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had said that most banking fraud handled by the Commission showed that bank employees aided the acts.
The Head, Cybercrime Section of the Commission, Abbah Sambo, said that the acts were mostly perpetrated by insider Information, Communication Technology employees of banks.
He also expressed regret at the increasing rate of cybercrime in spite of best efforts by the Commission to tackle it.
Sambo observed that in years past, young people involved in cybercrime were not ICT savvy, but today, it is ICT graduates that were champions in perpetrating the crime.
NAN