First Bank branch sealed for defying court judgement, customers stranded

Following a National Industrial Court order in Makurdi, Venue State to enforce a judgement against First Bank Nigeria Limited, activities at the bank were disrupted for over six hours on Monday, leaving customers of the bank stranded.
The customers were shut out of the office from 8:30am to about 3:10pm when this report was compiled.
The court had given judgment in favour of a former staff of the bank, Ruth Amelia Adah, who alleged she was wrongfully disengaged and asked the bank to pay her over N12.4 million damages.
The judgment, which was issued on July 12, 2017, ordered the bank to pay latest by October 16, 2017.
It was gathered that the bank was yet to effect payment as at Monday, a situation which compelled the court to enforce the judgment it delivered.
In its bid to enforce the judgment, staff of the court and policemen flooded the premises of First Bank, Makurdi as early as 8:30am.
Shortly after they arrived the premises, they went to work by pasting court orders on most of the vehicles with the intention of impounding same.
The court staff made attempts to dismantle the generating set that powers the bank, probably with the aim of crippling the activities of the bank.
The process of enforcement set the bank and officials of the court at edge, even as counsels to the parties in the suit raised accusations and counter accusations against each other during the quarrel that ensued.
A staff of the bank in Makurdi, believed to be in the legal department, was said to have declined comments when contacted.
. THISDAY.