The Court of Appeal, Abuja, has affirmed the July 16, 2025 judgment of the Federal Capital Territory High Court awarding N85 million against Zenith Bank Plc and the Nigeria Police Force for unlawfully freezing a customer's account based on an invalid court order.

A three-member panel of the appellate court, led by Justice Adebukola Banjoko, unanimously dismissed an appeal filed by Zenith Bank, holding that the appeal lacked merit.

Zenith Bank, in an appeal marked CA/ABJ/CV/1335/2025, had challenged the judgment of Justice S.U. Bature of the FCT High Court, which ordered the bank to unfreeze the account belonging to Abhulimen & Co and publish an apology to the firm in two national newspapers and on its website.

The original suit, marked FCT/HC/CV/2194/2024, was filed by Paulyn O. Abhulimen, SAN, through Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN & Partners LP, against Zenith Bank and the Nigeria Police Force.

Abhulimen had told the court that she discovered in early 2024 that she could no longer access or conduct transactions through her firm's account because the bank had placed a Post-No-Debit (PND) restriction on it.

She said a bank official, Obi Okafor, who was in charge of the account, subsequently informed her that the restriction was imposed based on an order allegedly obtained by the police from a Chief Magistrates' Court sitting in Mararaba Gurku, Nasarawa State.

In his judgment, Justice Bature held that Zenith Bank was wrong to freeze the account without informing the customer and based on an order issued by a court that lacked jurisdiction.

The judge questioned why an order concerning an account domiciled at Zenith Bank's Transcorp Hilton branch in Abuja was obtained from a Magistrates' Court in Nasarawa State.

He further held that matters relating to banking transactions fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal High Court under Section 251 of the 1999 Constitution, while banker-customer disputes fall within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, State High Courts and the High Court of the FCT.

Justice Bature consequently declared that Magistrates' Courts lacked jurisdiction to entertain an application for an order to freeze the claimant's bank account.

He also faulted Zenith Bank's failure to notify the claimant that the account had been frozen, describing the omission as a breach of the bank's duty of care and due diligence to its customer.

The judge said the bank's legal department ought to have been aware of the legal position and should not have acted on an order issued by a court lacking the requisite jurisdiction.

Justice Bature ordered Zenith Bank to immediately lift the PND restriction and tender an unreserved written apology to the claimant in two national newspapers and on its website.

He also ordered Zenith Bank and the police to jointly and severally pay N60 million in general damages for the embarrassment, psychological trauma, financial distress, emotional stress and grave inconvenience suffered by the claimant.

An additional N25 million was awarded as costs of the action, bringing the total financial award to N85 million.

The Court of Appeal's dismissal of Zenith Bank's appeal has now affirmed the High Court's judgment.