Nigerian Banks May Shut Down Nationwide

Indications emerged, weekend, that banks operating in the country may shut down operations nation wide in protest over the continued detention of key officers of about 18 banks by the Department of State Services over allegation of money laundery.

The arrest and detention of the officers was generating panic and furor in banking quarters following over two weeks arrest and detention without charges brought against the concerned bankers.

Senior personnel of 18 Nigerian banks have been languishing in detention in the holding facility of the Department of State Services  for almost two weeks over allegations of terrorist financing and money laundering alleged by government functionaries to have been perpetrated by Aminu Suleiman Lamido, son of Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido.

Aminu and his brother, Mustapha Lamido were arrested by Economic and financial Crimes Commission, EFCC,  over an alleged N10 billion fraud.

They were arrested in Kano and flown to Abuja and have since been under interrogation at the Commission’s headquarters.

The banks whose staff have been picked up are Fidelity Bank Plc, First City Monument Bank Plc, FCMB, Wema Bank Plc, Access Bank Plc, Skye Bank Plc, First Bank Nigeria Limited, FBN, Sterling Bank Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, Unity Bank Plc, Ecobank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, GTBank, and Citibank. The DSS, it was learnt, which has been on the trail of Aminu Lamido, had sought an ex parte motion from the Federal High Court, Abuja, to freeze the accounts, in 13 banks, of Adold Engineering Company Limited, believed to be owned by the governor’s son.

The ex parte motion was granted by Justice A.F.A Ademola on November 6, 2013.

The fear of the banks, it was gathered, was that the DSS had no capacity to analyse information sent daily to CBN and EFCC related to money laundering.

They argue that banks on a daily basis send reports on suspected money laundry activities to the CBN and the EFCC.

A bank chief Executive said that in some of the above banks, the chief inspectors were picked. According to the bank executive who do not want his name in print, last week in one of the banks the Department of State Security officials visited  the head office under the guise of inviting the officials to their Lagos office, but unknown to them they were flown in military aircraft to Abuja. Since then no one has been allowed access to the officials. In one of the first generation banks an Executive Director was picked. Among those being detained by the Department of State Security are Bank Treasurers, head of Information Technology and other key officers whose day to day activities in the banks are key to the operations of banks.