Adam Idakwo, the Abuja-based clergyman whose $2,400 was withheld for 17 months by Zenith Bank, can finally breathe a sigh of relief as the financial institution has finally credited his wife’s account with the sum.

This positive turn of events unfolded between Thursday and Friday following FIJ’s coverage of the bank’s insistence on obtaining a telex copy before releasing the sum that had been sent as a tuition refund by an American university since April 2022.

Expressing his gratitude, Idakwo said, “Thank you so much. My wife received several calls from Zenith Bank headquarters on Thursday, and they were pleading with her. This was after FIJ published the story. One of the officials who contacted her asked her to write a letter requesting the repurchase of her dollar refunds.

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“On Friday, she received another call from the bank, instructing her to visit her branch that same day. Zenith Bank eventually paid the naira equivalent of our $2,400 tuition fee refund from the American University School of Medicine, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, on September 22, 2023, after months of back-and-forth, and since April 4, 2022. Thank you, FIJ.”

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On September 20, FIJ had reported how Zenith Bank demanded to see a telex copy as proof that the $2,400 the university transferred was indeed meant to be credited into the clergyman’s wife’s account.

The request made by the bank prevented the clergyman’s family from having access to the money for 17 months.

Despite providing Zenith Bank with refund proofs that included transaction receipts from the American university confirming the money had indeed been transferred, the financial insisted on sighting a telex copy before crediting the appropriate account.

Zenith Bank would eventually release the $2,400 two days after FIJ published a story on the matter.