A final year student of a Nigerian university has lamented how his entire savings of N133,000 vanished from his Zenith Bank account without his consent.
According to the heartbroken student, “I am so helpless right now. N133,000 was deducted from my Zenith Bank account last year. The money was for my tuition, but it is gone, and Zenith Bank has done nothing to help me.”
Those were the words of James Emeka (real name withheld), a final year Pharmacy student at the Anambra State College of Health Technology (ASCOHT).
Emeka lamented that the money was deducted from his Zenith Bank account on November 11, 2022, without his authorisation, a development that appears to be the trend with Nigerian banks in recent times.
The student said, “I really hustled to get that amount for my school fee. I sell sneakers even as a student, and it’s not been easy.”
Emeka said he visited two branches of the bank on the day of the incident to lodge a complaint.
He said even after several messages to the bank’s email address and social media pages, Zenith Bank had not done anything to recover his money
“They were just turning me around at the bank when I went there in November, especially at the first branch in Nkpor,” he said.
“The manager of the second branch at Main Market said someone created a new mobile log-in and transferred the money to Paystack.
“How can a bank allow such to happen to its customer? I am sure one of the staff members of the bank is behind this. They said it’s under investigation, but it’s been two months now.”
Emeka added that he needs his money from Zenith Bank so that he could pay his tuition as his examination would soon start.
“I don’t know what else to do again. I’m running out of time. According to the exam timetable, exams would start on January 17, and I can’t do exams without paying my school fee,” said Emeka.
When contacted for comments, Zenith Bank demanded a screenshot of the debit alert to enable the bank review the claim and assist.
On receiving the screenshot of the deduction, the bank said, “We implore the customer to engage us for review and advise.”
Last week, a young lady identified as Chiamaka Agim also raised an alarm after her life’s savings of N4 million vanished from her Zenith Bank account and the managers offered absolutely no help.