An Abuja High Court has ordered Zenith Bank Plc to pay N85 million in damages and legal costs for unlawfully freezing a customer’s account based on an invalid court order.
In a judgment delivered by Justice S.U. Bature, the bank was also directed to immediately unfreeze the affected account, operated by Abhulimen & Co, at its Maitama branch in Abuja. The court further ordered the bank to issue a public apology to the firm in two national newspapers and on its official website.
The judge faulted Zenith Bank for relying on an ex-parte order from a Magistrate Court in Nasarawa State — a court which lacked both the territorial and substantive jurisdiction to issue such a directive. The freezing of the account, the judge held, was not only unlawful but also carried out without notifying the customer, which constituted a breach of the bank’s duty of care.
Justice Bature criticised the bank’s legal department for acting on an order from a court that had no authority to handle banking-related disputes, noting that such matters fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court or relevant State and FCT High Courts.
“The legal department of the first defendant should have known better. Obeying an invalid court order was a clear dereliction of responsibility,” the judge said.
The ruling followed a lawsuit filed by Paulyn O. Abhulimen, SAN, on behalf of her firm, after discovering the account had been frozen without prior notice. The court awarded N60 million in general damages and an additional N25 million as the cost of the legal action.
Justice Bature also condemned the role of the Nigeria Police Force, which failed to appear in court to explain why it sought the order in a court outside its jurisdiction. He stressed that no court has the power to issue a freezing order ex-parte to last indefinitely, and ruled that the actions of both the bank and the police were unlawful, negligent, and in breach of due process.
