Justice Deinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered 54 financial institutions to immediately return a total of ₦9,329,322,870 fraudulently transferred by hackers from an unnamed old generation bank.

The ruling, delivered on April 15, 2025, followed an ex parte motion in suit FHC/L/CS/629/2025. The court directed that Post No Debit restrictions be placed on all accounts that received portions of the stolen funds and mandated the immediate recovery of all traceable sums to the originating bank.

According to the plaintiff, the cyber breach occurred on March 23, 2025, compromising the bank’s core system and leading to unauthorized debits from several customer accounts. The stolen funds were allegedly dispersed across multiple accounts in 54 banks and rerouted through several layers of beneficiaries.

Justice Dipeolu ordered the affected institutions to disclose detailed information on all implicated accounts, including current balances and transaction trails, and to maintain restrictions until full recovery is achieved. The court clarified that the order strictly targets the misappropriated funds and does not affect legitimate customer deposits.

The judge emphasized that the stolen funds remain the property of the plaintiff bank and affirmed the court’s authority to compel full restitution.