In 2022, my little cousin, Oluchi got admission to study community nursing. We paid N96,000 into her account for tuition.
Somehow she delayed, so on the last day of admissions, she went to the bank to draw money and was told she had only 50 kobo in her account. As in, N0. 50k. All the blood in her veins drained. She hyperventilated and nearly collapsed.
It was Keystone Bank.
They chased her out of the bank with zero empathy. The bank staff claimed she withdrew the money herself or compromised her account.
It was impossible.
She had no ATM Card. She had gotten no fraudulent SMS demanding account information or OTP. Nothing of such but Keystone did not listen to her.
When we reviewed the account statement she had, it was obvious that someone within the bank had done some uncanny dealings with that account.
The next day, I sent my brother, Chinedu Nwasum to go to the bank as I was out of town, besides, he banked with Keystone. They told Chinedu that there was nothing they could do. They insulted the young girl – how she was careless with her bank details and so on yen-yen-yen 😒
I was enraged.
I briefed a lawyer, Barr. Chris Naru Osani, one of the most diligent and steadfast lawyers in town.
He wrote to the bank officially, attaching the statement of account.
The bank responded officially in writing, informing us that they were investigating the matter.
After a while, we wrote again when we didn’t hear back from them. We informed them that we would approach the court if they failed to refund the sum of N96,000 that was taken. We told them that it was their duty and core responsibility to protect the money in the account with their bank.
They received our letter and snubbed us.
Meanwhile, my cousin had missed out on the admission for 2022/2023 and was depressed.
We filed a suit against Keystone Bank, praying the court to compel Keystone to refund the N96,000 and to pay damages.
Instead of Keystone to invite us, apologise and give us the misery N96,000, they sent a lawyer all the way from Owerri to make an appearance for them.
They forgot that some of us do not give up on whatever path we have chosen to walk on. Besides, we had a young, vibrant and intelligent lawyer, willing and ready to prosecute the matter to its logical conclusion.
Keystone’s representation in court was that they had written us about an investigation. They told the court that my cousin had compromised her account and that the transaction was done using USSD.
Our lawyer, told the court that the transaction was initiated within the bank itself as we had gotten informed analysis of the transaction details and that it was not a USSD transaction.
The little girl testified in court, weeping, telling the honorable court how she lost one year of her academic life due to the negligence and malfeasance of some people in Keystone.
The matter dragged.
Yesterday, court ruled on the matter.
Keystone was ordered to refund us N96,000 wrongly taken from the account.
Keystone was ordered to pay the sum of N2,000,000 in damages.
O foo ha na anya, finally 🤣🤣
Now, we await their response. If they appeal even to the Supreme Court, we are willing and ready to prosecute the matter to that level for justice to be served.
What this case has shown is the rot and corruption within the Nigerian banking system.
What this has revealed is how poor corporate governance practice within an establishment can ruin them. If Keystone had good managers, they should have treated my cousin with respect. They should have taken responsibility and promise to make their system better and we would have been satisfied, even if they didn’t refund the money. Possibly, they should have been honest and diligent to carry out an investigation and to find how water got into the stork of the pumpkin. But they thought her to be a small girl of 17 and could possibly do nothing.
What this case has revealed is that many Nigerians, young and old, especially the uneducated lose money in tens, hundreds and thousands and millions of naira daily, yet cannot do anything to the bank. Banks get away with a lot because in Nigeria, we take things for granted, we allow a lot to slide.
We await Keystone Bank!
