Published 9th Mar, 2023

By Tola Owoyele

Brotobor Igho, a Delta State-based tutorial centre owner, has recounted how N1 million mysteriously disappeared from his First Bank account after visiting one of the financial institution’s branches to carry out a transaction.

Igho told FIJ that the incident happened on February 17 after he filled a form instructing a First Bank branch on Nnebisi Road, Asaba, to transfer N1,020,000 from his account to the account of the proprietor of a school.

“The money in question belongs to my tutorial centre students who are about to sit for the coming WAEC exams. I visited the First Bank branch that day so that the N1,020,000 could be transferred to the account of the owner of the school where they would be writing the exams,” said Igho.

“After filling the transfer form, I gave it to the bank official that attended to me. She acted as if she was treating it on the spot, and after a while, stamped the instruction and gave me a copy, telling me that that was my receipt. She also said the transfer was successful and that I could take my leave.

“All through the period however, I never received a debit alert. I eventually thought that my inability to receive a debit alert could be related to network glitches. In the end, I took my leave thinking the beneficiary would have received the payment.”

Igho would later realise that there was a big problem when the intended beneficiary of the sum called him on February 19 to tell him he had not received it.

“I thought it was a joke. I even told him to relax, that I had since sent the money and that it was already in his account,” Igho said.

“But he would call me again the next day to tell me that he had still not got the money. This got me worried and I went back to the bank on February 22.”

Igho told FIJ that when he visited the branch the second time, the official who had initially attended to him, asked that “he fill another fund transfer request form”.

“I was shocked and disappointed. The action meant that the form I had come to fill the first time I visited the branch had not been treated. The surprising part was that she never told me why it was not treated,” Igho said.

The tutorial centre owner told FIJ that he would receive another shocker while trying to fill a second transfer request form as advised.

“After registering my disappointment, and as I was trying to fill another transfer request form, the lady suddenly told me that N1 million had been stolen from my account. This was when I lost my cool,” said Igho.

“I asked her, ‘Which money? The N1 million that belongs to WAEC students? Between when and when? The money that was still in my account when I filled the transfer request form the first time? Who stole it?’ She should look for it.

The transaction copy Igho was given after from First Bank filling the first request form — The transaction copy Igho was given after filling the first request form

“She would later beg me to visit the customer care unit so that the officials there would query my account. When I got there, the official that attended to me said the money had been transferred from my First Bank account to a SportyBet account.

“The truth is, the money was stolen from my account after I had filled the transfer request form and handed it to the lady that was supposed to treat it. This simply is an inside job. The most surprising part is that, till we speak, I am yet to receive any debit alert on my phone.

“First Bank should help me return the money to my account. It does not belong to me; it is for students preparing to write WAEC exams.”

FIJ sent an email to First Bank for comments on Wednesday morning, but it had not been responded to at press time.

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