A ₦5bn lawsuit against First City Monument Bank (FCMB) has raised questions about how banks protect customers’ confidential financial records after an alleged unauthorised disclosure of a company’s account statement to a third party.
First Tirad Global Resources Ltd and its majority shareholder filed the suit before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, accusing the bank of breaching its duty of confidentiality and exposing sensitive financial and personal information.
The claimants alleged that the account statement was obtained through WhatsApp after a third party contacted a former FCMB account officer, Taofeeq Are, who allegedly sought assistance from a serving officer, Olutunde Oyasola.
According to court documents, Oyasola generated the statement and sent screenshots to Are, who allegedly forwarded them to the third party.
The claimants maintained that the third party had no authority to access the company’s account records.
They further alleged that the statement contained details of a rent payment that exposed the residential address of the company’s majority shareholder, raising concerns about the potential consequences of disclosing sensitive customer information.
The dispute took another turn when the claimants alleged that FCMB, in a letter dated July 8, 2026, described the disclosure as “wholly unauthorised” and inconsistent with its internal policies and data protection obligations.
They are asking the court to determine whether the alleged disclosure amounted to a breach of confidentiality, negligence and violations of applicable privacy and data protection obligations.
The claimants are demanding ₦5bn in damages and seeking an injunction to prevent further disclosure or use of the disputed statement.
They also want the bank held liable for the alleged actions or omissions of its employees.
The case, marked FCT/HC/NY/255/2026, remains pending. The court has yet to rule on the allegations, while FCMB had not filed a response as of the time the documents were made available for this report.
