“After N89,000 disappeared from my Union Bank account, I was sick,” Silverline Ogbeide, a 59-year-old Benin-based business woman, told FIJ.

Ogbeide made that statement while detailing how devastated she was when a fraudster stole N89,000 from her Union Bank account last year.

The Edo State resident said the bank did nothing to help recover her stolen money.

She told FIJ that she withdrew some money via the bank’s ATM at Mission Road in Benin on January 29, 2022, when her debit card got stuck in the machine.

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“I first withdrew N20,000. I withdrew another N20,000. The machine seized my card on my third attempt to withdraw another N20,000,” said Ogbeide.

The 59-year-old business woman explained that she received a debit alert of N89,000 within five minutes of waiting for help outside the Union Bank branch.

She said she had called on the bank’s security officer before the money was deducted, who advised her to go home and come back on Monday.

“It was while we were talking that I received the debit alert. I told him someone was apparently in the bank and had access to my card that went missing.”

Ogbeide said that was the first time she would have such an unpleasant experience since 1986 when she started banking with Union Bank.

She also said that the bank said the card could not be found.

“I went there on Monday and narrated what happened to them, then they said my card was missing. How? How did it happen? Who stole my money?

“The bank asked me to come back on Wednesday, and I kept going there after that. Due to the stress of going to and fro, I fell sick and was on admission at the Edo State Specialist Hospital in April,” said Ogbeide.

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She further told FIJ that although the branch manager assured her that the issue would be escalated to the bank’s head office in Lagos State, her money remained missing.

“I went back to the bank after I was discharged from the hospital that same April, and the manager said they had not heard from Lagos,” she told FIJ.

When contacted for comments, a Union Bank customer care representative identified as Champion said Ogbeide should contact the bank for assistance.

“Kindly advise the owner of the account to reach out to us on 012716816 or 07007007000 for further assistance,” he said.