Court slams Access Bank over freezing of illegal accounts, awards N16 million damages

A Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, has ordered Access Bank Plc to pay a total of $16 million in damages to some customers for illegally imposing post-no-debit restrictions on their accounts without sufficient legal justification.

The ruling, delivered on June 1, 2026 by Justice Chukwujekwu Joseph Aneke in case number FHC/L/CS/878/2023, criticized the bank’s action, describing it as arbitrary and not supported by law.

The court held that financial institutions must operate strictly within legal provisions when limiting customer accounts, warning that such actions cannot be based on mere suspicion or unverified links to transactions.

Judge Aneke, after considering the arguments of both parties, determined that the first plaintiff did not have standing to bring an action against the bank, as he had no contractual relationship with it, and consequently rejected his claims.

However, the court found merit in the cases of the second, third, fourth and fifth plaintiffs, ruling that there was no evidence linking them to illegal cryptocurrency activity to justify the restrictions placed on their accounts.

The judge noted that although the first plaintiff engaged in cryptocurrency transactions outside Nigeria, particularly in Benin Republic, where such activities were not proven to be illegal, this could not serve as a basis to penalize other customers who simply received funds from him for legitimate purposes.

Regarding the second appellant, the court found that Access Bank acted incorrectly by maintaining a restriction on the account despite the absence of any evidence of involvement in cryptocurrency trading. The court awarded $5 million in damages and ordered the immediate lifting of the restriction.

In the case of the fourth plaintiff, Judge Aneke described the situation as “particularly unfortunate”, noting that the funds in question were mistakenly transferred to his account without any allegation of fraud.

The court found that although a customary court had ordered the erroneous payment to be reversed, Access Bank exceeded its powers by imposing a post-no-debit restriction without a valid court order authorizing such action. As a result, the bank was ordered to pay $10 million in damages and to lift the restriction on the account.

As regards the third applicant, the court recognized that a previous court order initially justified the restriction. However, it ruled that continued freezing of the account was no longer tenable in the absence of any criminal charges or proceedings, underlining the constitutional presumption of innocence.

The court further noted that the fifth plaintiff was not involved in cryptocurrency trading and that the restriction on his account had already been lifted.

Justice Aneke stressed that banks are required to strictly comply with court orders where they exist, but cautioned against imposing indefinite restrictions without legal support.

“No evidence was presented to demonstrate that the restrictions were based on suspicious transaction volumes,” the court noted, adding that the actions were largely based on alleged links to cryptocurrency transactions and alleged court directives.

In addition to damages, the court awarded 500,000 naira each as costs to the second and fourth plaintiffs.

The ruling underlines the judiciary’s position that customer funds cannot be arbitrarily withheld and that financial institutions must respect due process in exercising their regulatory powers.

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