Polaris Bank Denies Declaring Customer, Anthony Olasele Dead, Says Court Did

Nigerian commercial bank, Polaris Bank has said that it placed a Post-No-Debit (PND) on the account of its customer, Anthony Olasele, because it received court documents in which the customer was declared dead.

Anthony told SaharaReporters, that he suspected foul play after his account with the bank became inactive and he was unable to carry out any transaction.

He said he contacted the bank and was told the bank was acting on a court order informing the bank that he was dead.

Responding to SaharaReporters’ request for comment on the issue, the bank said that “Polaris Bank did not declare the customer dead, but was in receipt of court documents stating so, and the Bank in such circumstance, has a duty to respect such documents so as to protect the customer deposit.”

According to bank, “The said court papers including; Bank Certificate (dated May 2, 2023); Statutory Affidavit of Next of Kin issued by Probate Registry of a High Court of Justice, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and together with a death Certificate issued by National Population Commission (NPC), Abuja Municipal Area Council were presented to the Bank on May 11, 2023 by one Olasele Tina AKA Tina Olasele who claims to be a Widower of the ‘deceased’ customer, Anthony Olasele.

“The Bank had, following from this information, immediately flagged the account of the Customer pending the conclusion of the issuance of the Letters of Administration. We have also confirmed the said Bank Certificate was genuinely obtained from the Court.

“Processing of Letters of Administration is purely a family affair without any input whatsoever on the part of the Bank or its staff. It is therefore expected that the Customer, who currently claims to reside in Spain investigate members of his family with the name of Olasele Tina AKA Tina Olasele (the person that processed the above referred papers from Court).

“Following from customer protest and confirmation by the Bank that the customer is indeed alive, the Bank has availed his lawyer the documents since May 16th. 2023

“The primary concern of Polaris Bank is to always protect the customers’ funds first. We are working closely with all stakeholders, including security agencies and the customer, to expedite the process. Once the process is completed, satisfactorily, the Bank will lift the PND, and the customer will access his funds. That is the statutory process.

“Preliminary findings from internal investigation launched into the Customer’s claim of collusion to defraud him has so far revealed otherwise.

“We kindly advise the customer Mr. Anthony Olasele, family, friends and social media agents to allow the process to be completed.”