A Federal High Court in Abuja has denied a motion by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) seeking an order to compel approximately twelve banks and financial institutions to reverse billions of naira that were allegedly fraudulently withdrawn from a Flutterwave account at Wema Bank due to a system glitch between October 12 and 13, 2023.
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The IGP’s legal team argued that about 244 suspects criminally siphoned billions from Flutterwave’s account, transferring the funds to numerous bank accounts belonging to individuals who are either untraceable or difficult to locate. However, the court declined to grant the ex parte motion, emphasizing the need for the banks to be heard and noting the applicant’s failure to file a motion on notice alongside it.
Earlier this year, Flutterwave confirmed that it detected unusual activities on one of its platforms in April and immediately informed law enforcement agencies. Despite blocking the attempted intrusion, court documents revealed that the company sought police assistance to recover stolen funds, with preliminary investigations showing fraudulent transactions carried out using Flutterwave POS terminals during the system glitch.
During the court proceedings, Justice Peter Lifu challenged the IGP’s counsel to justify why the ex parte motion should be granted without hearing from the respondents, in line with the constitutional provisions of fair hearing. The judge pointed out that there was no motion on notice accompanying the ex parte motion, as required by the court’s rules, and subsequently refused the motion, describing it as a clear breach of Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantees the right to a fair hearing.
Legal experts, Barrister Michael Okejimi and Barrister Opeyemi Owolabi, both emphasized the fundamental importance of the principle of fair hearing in such cases. They explained that while ex parte motions can be used in exceptional cases to prevent irreparable harm, the correct legal procedure typically involves filing a suit, followed by motions on notice and ex parte for interim orders.
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