Fury in Jos: Jaiz Bank Customers Protest Alleged Multimillion-Naira Account Hijack and Staff Fraud
Fury erupted outside the Jaiz Bank branch in Plateau State on Monday as customers staged a protest over alleged unauthorized withdrawal and hijack of their accounts, accusing a staff of diverting multimillion-naira deposits.
The protesters, carrying placards with inscriptions such as “Jaiz Bank must pay us our money,” “FG should come to our rescue,” and “CBN should please come to our aid because money was withdrawn unauthorized,” alleged that their funds deposited under mudarabah profit-sharing arrangement disappeared.
Speaking during the protest, one of the affected customers and leader of the protesters, Hashim Faruk, said they opened mudarabah accounts with the agreement that the bank would return their capital with profit after one month, six months or one year.
“We are aggrieved because our money was stolen at Jaiz Bank. We came and opened accounts at Jaiz Bank, where we were told it was a mudarabah account. The arrangement was that when you deposit money — say, 1 million — the bank would clear the total amount, and after one month or the agreed period of six months or one year, your money would be returned with profit,” Faruk said.
According to him, the fraud was discovered when customers returned to collect their money after the agreed period elapsed.
“After one month or when the agreement period elapsed, we came to collect our money, only to discover that a bank employee had stolen money from customers’ accounts. When we reported it, the bank claimed the employee transferred the funds to other accounts. They promised an investigation, but six months passed with no report. Whenever we asked, they told us they wouldn’t pay until their internal investigation was finished,” he said.
Faruk further alleged intimidation by the bank management, saying when they approached the branch manager, she claimed the matter was beyond her and threatened to invite the police.
“When we went to the manager, she said the matter was beyond her power and threatened to call the police on us. Even when we went to the State CID for investigation, nothing came of it for six months. Whenever we pressed for answers, we were told the bank couldn’t pay us until investigations concluded, yet customers are suffering and falling sick,” he said.
Another affected customer, Zainab Mahmud Danladi, who was visibly distressed, said she was given N2 million to keep and later discovered her account balance was zero.
“I was given 2 million to keep… and now I discovered my account balance is showing zero. When I asked what happened, I was told Hashim Faruk’s case is different, but they aren’t helping us. Some people are married with families, facing severe hardship, and some have even been hospitalized due to the shock of losing their savings. We call on the Federal Government to rescue us from Jaiz Bank,” Zainab said.
Other protesters, including Odoko Amina Peace, were seen seated outside the bank, lamenting hardship caused by the alleged disappearance of their savings.
Responding to the allegations, the bank’s Legal Counsel, Barr. Munir Barau Abdullahi, said the customers engaged in transactions with a certain bank employee who operated outside standard protocol.
“In summary, they engaged in transactions with a certain bank employee who operated outside standard protocol. This issue dates back to 2022. The bank is expected to pay returns or profits monthly, but this incident has disrupted operations. We want to assure the public that proper legal and investigative measures are being taken to handle the situation fairly,” Barr. Munir said.
The protesters, however, insisted on immediate refund of their funds and called on the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to intervene.
