Kaduna court jails two ex-bank officials over theft of customers’ funds

Crime Diary

KADUNA, Nigeria — The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has secured the conviction and sentencing of two former bank officials over theft involving funds belonging to customers of Access Bank Plc in Kaduna State.

The convicts, identified as Obadofin Daniel Bamise and Hadiza Oyiza Yakubu, were sentenced by Justice A.A. Bello of the Kaduna State High Court sitting in Kaduna.

According to the EFCC, both defendants were prosecuted by the Kaduna Zonal Directorate of the anti-graft agency on separate one-count charges bordering on theft.

The charge against Obadofin alleged that he fraudulently stole N433,000 while working as an employee of Access Bank between November 5, 2024 and January 23, 2025.

Yakubu was similarly accused of stealing N806,000 within the same period while serving as a staff member of the bank.

The offences were said to contravene provisions of Section 274 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017.

During the court proceedings, both defendants pleaded guilty to the charges brought against them.

Following their guilty pleas, prosecution counsel, Moses Arumemi, urged the court to convict and sentence them accordingly.

Justice Bello subsequently convicted the two former bank officials and sentenced each of them to seven years’ imprisonment with an option of N50,000 fine.

Investigations by the EFCC revealed that the convicts allegedly carried out unauthorised withdrawals from the accounts of 305 customers who were beneficiaries of the Federal Government’s palliative scheme.

According to the anti-corruption agency, the fraudulent transactions totalled N7,842,700.

The EFCC further disclosed that the unauthorised withdrawals were allegedly diverted into accounts belonging to coordinators of the palliative scheme.

The commission said the convictions underscore its ongoing efforts to combat financial crimes and protect Nigerians from economic exploitation within the banking sector.