Access Bank Plc has approached the Federal High Court in Lagos seeking urgent orders to freeze accounts linked to the alleged unauthorised transfer of N1.34 billion belonging to four of its customers.
The development, reported by the Nigerian Tribune, followed the bank’s discovery of the alleged transactions after it resumed operations on August 12, 2026.
According to the bank’s preliminary investigation, a total of N1,340,425,393 was allegedly transferred without the customers’ authorisation.
The affected accounts include MIB TXN Bullion-Aba Branch, from which N590,975,889 was allegedly transferred; AllCO General Insurance Company Limited, involving N420,449,504; Apogee Engineering Limited, involving N136 million; and Sims Nigeria Limited, involving N193 million.
Access Bank said its internal investigation traced portions of the allegedly diverted funds to accounts domiciled with the bank and 71 other financial institutions and payment service providers.
The lender subsequently filed Suit No. FHC/LAG/CS/1168/2026, asking the court to preserve the funds and prevent further movement or dissipation of the money.
In its application, Access Bank requested that the respondent institutions place post-no-debit restrictions on accounts and Bank Verification Numbers linked to the allegedly diverted funds.
The bank also asked the court to compel the institutions to disclose amounts recovered from the affected accounts and provide details of accounts connected to the transactions.
Access Bank said it had contacted the affected financial institutions immediately after discovering the alleged fraud and requested that the funds be preserved. Some of the institutions, it said, had already placed restrictions on certain accounts but required a court order to sustain them.
The bank argued that urgent judicial intervention was necessary to prevent further dissipation and improve prospects of recovering the funds.
It also sought orders directing the reversal of recovered funds into an Access Bank account and the watchlisting of relevant BVNs pending recovery.
The financial institutions named as respondents include major banks and fintech companies, among them First Bank, Fidelity Bank, Ecobank, FCMB, GTBank, Keystone Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Union Bank, UBA, Wema Bank, Zenith Bank, OPay, PalmPay, Moniepoint, Kuda, Paga and SmartCash.
Access Bank said the application was also intended to help combat cybercrime, which it described as a threat capable of undermining Nigeria’s economic and national interests.
The bank undertook to pay damages should the court later determine that the orders ought not to have been granted.
The allegations remain subject to judicial determination, and the filing of the application does not by itself establish liability against any of the named institutions or account holders.