Customer Threatens To Sue Union Bank For Alleged Breach Of Contract And Negligence

A union bank customer (name withheld) has threatened to take court action against Union Bank Nigeria Plc for alleged breach of contract and negligence.

In a letter dated 5th September 2016 written by the customer’s solicitors Emperor N. Iwuala & Co. on behalf of the customer, it is being alleged that sometime in early August 2016 the customer opened an account with the bank at its branch in Okigwe Road Owerri, deposited some money in his account and the bank made deductions from the account but did not allow the customer to withdraw money from the account.

Part of the letter reads thus:

‘Our Client opened an account with your bank in your branch sometime in early August 2016.  The staff who opened the account is one Mr. Candidus Achonwa in your branch. After opening the account, Mr Achonwa wrote the bank account number on a piece of paper and gave it to our client. Our client was also later issued with an ATM card with number 5242890181172090. Thereafter, our client lodged some money in her account and her account was credited. Also service charges were debited.

When our client could not initially withdraw from her account, Mr. Achonwa requested the account to be migrated to a salary account because of our alleged client’s inability to bring the required identity card for opening of account in your bank. Therefore, our client was asked to bring her work identity card and appointment letter. Our client complied accordingly. However, Mr. Achonwa did not tell our client that the new account is a current account.

Nevertheless, after fulfilling all the conditions she was given by your bank to open the salary account, our client has since then, tried severally to withdraw both from the ATM and from your branches but she has been refused withdrawal on all the occasions. Some days ago, she also went to withdraw from money from your Aboh Mbaise branch but was refused withdrawal and told that the bank account number Mr. Achonwa issued her does not exist in your bank as it had 11 alphabets as against 10 which your bank operate with. The account number is 00525168979.

Our client has been grossly embarrassed and subjected to unnecessary hardship and difficulty as she has to travel several times from Mbaise to Owerri trying to rectify this anomaly. She has also lost a lot of businesses the money she lodged in her account with your bank would have fetched her because of your refusal to allow her withdraw money from her account with your bank.

Therefore, we have our client’s instruction to demand the following from you:

1. Immediate release of her money in your bank to her
2. Payment to her the sum of 50,000,000.00 (fifty million naira) as damages for breach of contract and negligence and
3. Letter of apology in a national newspaper in Nigeria.

The above demands should be met in one weeks’ time from the date of receiving this letter. Take notice that we also have our client’s instruction to take court and criminal actions against your bank in case you default in fulfilling the above requests.’

The head office of the bank is said to have been copied the letter through its email address.

However, recent feelers from the bank says that on receiving the lawyer’s letter, the bank hurriedly corrected the suspected anomalies in the customer’s account.

Nevertheless, the customer has threatened that the bank must pay her damages for the alleged hardship she suffered for the non-withdrawal.