Ismaila Ibrahim, a Lagos State resident, has narrated how N307,000 was stolen from his United Bank for Africa (UBA) account seven months ago.

Ibrahim told FIJ that the incident happened after his debit card got trapped in a Zenith Bank automated teller machine (ATM) on November 24, 2023.

He also said that the Zenith Bank branch where the incident took place is located in Onipanu, Lagos.

“That Friday, I decided to make a N10,000 [withdrawal] from an ATM located inside the Zenith Bank branch, Onipanu,” Ibrahim said.

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“Unfortunately, after making an attempt to withdraw the sum, I did not get paid, and my debit card also got seized by the machine.

“All efforts to get my card back from the officials working at the branch proved abortive, and I was told by the security officer I first approached for help to go to UBA, my bank, to request for a new debit card.”

While Ibrahim was at a UBA branch trying to request for a new debit card, he suddenly received a debit alert of N307,000 on his phone.

“This then meant that the same card that got trapped inside the Zenith Bank branch had been retrieved by someone and used to steal N307,000 from my account,” said Ibrahim.

“They wiped my account clean.

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“I was also informed that the money was stolen through a POS transaction.”

Ibrahim was subsequently advised by UBA to go back to the Zenith Bank branch and request to see the footage of how the debit card was retrieved from the machine after he left the branch premises.

“On getting to the Zenith Bank branch, my request was turned down, and I was also accused of making false claims,” said Ibrahim.

“The operations manager at the branch also threatened to have me arrested if I did not leave the premises at once. I was eventually allowed to see the footage after I reported the matter at the police station in Onipanu.

“In the end, the footage I was shown by Zenith Bank was not in anyway helpful, as the identity of the person who later used my card was never revealed.

“The operations manager also instructed that the cards that were seized on that day be brought for everyone to see, but interestingly, my debit card was not among the cards.

“I then demanded to know why my card was not among the ones presented and the manager then surprisingly said perhaps my card was never seized.

“I quickly refuted the claim and asked him to invite the security officer who was present at the time of the incident, but he refused to call him.

“He then further said that if I wasn’t pleased with the help he had so far rendered, I should sue Zenith Bank.

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“Since then, I have not been able to get my N307,000 back.”

When FIJ sent an email to Zenith Bank’s complaint desk on the issue on Thursday, Emmanuella Nnadi, one of the institution’s officials, issued the following response:

“This is to acknowledge the receipt of your mail. This has been channelled to the appropriate desk for further investigation. Also, advise the customer to file a formal complaint with his bank (UBA).”

FIJ, however, understands that Ibrahim had lodged several formal complaints about the incident, but to no avail.