Alpha Morgan Bank Limited, one of Nigeria’s newest commercial banks is racing to recover approximately N230.9 million allegedly siphoned from the accounts of two corporate clients after a system glitch enabled unauthorized withdrawals.
The disputed funds which amounted to N230,978,536 in total were reportedly moved from the accounts of NEM Insurance Plc and Extension Publications Limited into numerous accounts spread across 19 financial institutions.
In an effort to retrieve the money, Alpha Morgan Bank and the affected customers have filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Lagos, naming the 19 institutions as defendants.
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According to an affidavit sworn by Mr. Dayo Abe, a litigation officer at the law firm of Barrister Babafemi Akinsete, the breach was exploited by several digital financial services agents who operate as service merchants.
These agents, Abe said, maintain accounts with some of the institutions now before the court and took advantage of a temporary operational glitch at Alpha Morgan Bank to initiate multiple unauthorized transfers.
Investigations revealed that the entire sum was illegally funneled from the customers’ accounts into various beneficiary accounts across the 19 banks.
Following the bank’s complaint, the financial institutions involved placed temporary “no-debit” restrictions on the suspicious accounts. However, the affidavit noted that the perpetrators continued to move the illicit funds to other accounts linked to their Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs). This raised fears that the money could be fully dispersed unless every related account was immediately frozen.
The plaintiffs warned that failure to clamp down on all BVN-linked accounts would enable continued withdrawals, exposing both investors’ and shareholders’ funds to further risk.
They argued that the system malfunction and subsequent fraud have caused significant financial strain, making urgent judicial intervention essential to curb additional losses.
The suit seeks an order compelling the 19 financial institutions to reverse and remit all illegally transferred funds back to Alpha Morgan Bank for the credit of NEM Insurance Plc and Extension Publications Limited.
Alpha Morgan Bank began operations in 2024 as a commercial bank, with its headquarters located at 44 Ademola Adetokunbo Crescent, Wuse II, Abuja.
This is not an isolated occurrence. In March 2025, Wema Bank Plc secured a court order to recover ₦2.9 billion mistakenly credited to various customer accounts after a system error earlier that year.
These recurring incidents have heightened concerns about the resilience of Nigeria’s banking infrastructure at a time when interbank transactions are rising. Analysts warn that outdated systems and weak oversight may be increasing banks’ exposure to operational failures and fraud.
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