Breaking: Tarakirivoice CEO slam Tony Elumelu’s UBA 150m Law suit

By Our Correspondent

The founder/CEO of Tarakirivoice Newspaper Enterprise, an Activist , a social Commentator, Passman Akpos, has slammed Tony Elumelu’s United Bank of Africa (UBA) with N150million Law suit.

The Law suit with Suit Number BYHC/YHC/CV/94/2025 was filed on the 6th of March 2025 at the High Court of Bayelsa state of Nigeria, in the Yenagoa Judicial Division.

According to the Tarakirivoice Boss, in his statement of claim, noted” I, MR. AKPOS PASSMAN, adult male, Christian, Nigerian Citizen, residing in Ebi Sam Street, Akenfa, Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State do hereby make oath and state as follows:

That I am the claimant in this suit by virtue whereof I am conversant with the facts herein depose to in this deposition.

I am a business man from Egbemo-Angalabiri in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, presently residing at Ebisam Street in Akenfa 1, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

I am also privileged to be the present Coordinator/Administrator of the Opobow Camp of Clough Creek Egbemo-Angalabiri in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, under the on-going Presidential Amnesty Programme of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

That the Defendant is a commercial bank registered under the Companies and Allied Matters Act with a branch office in Onopa Yeanagoa Bayelsa State, presently involved in banking business.

That I am a customer to the Defendant with account N0:2055105538 – AKPOS PASSMAN.
That as a customer to the Defendant, I know that there is in existence a contractual relationship between  myself and the Defendant, wherein  I am expected to deposit funds into my aforementioned account, and the Defendant expected to pay the said funds to me upon  demand.

That sometime in the month of September, 2024, I received a business proposal call from my business friend in Lagos State, requesting for my presence in Lagos to finalize and seal a partnership business agreement. The said Business Partnership Proposal I received from my friend in Lagos is herein pleaded and shall be relied upon during the hearing of this suit.

That upon receiving the said business call, I made all necessary arrangement and was ready to travel to Lagos just so as to consummate the business agreement for which my business friend had called and requested my presence.

That I needed some funds for the said business and needed to get the said funds from my Account N0: 2055105538 – AKPOS PASSMAN.

That upon trying to make withdrawal from my aforementioned account, I was surprised that I could not access my account. The Document showing that  I was declined access to the money in my account is herein pleaded and relied upon.

Thereafter, I became worried and immediately called the Defendant’s customer care center to inquire and know why I could not access my account.

That I was reliably informed by the Defendant’s customer care center and I verily believed them to be true that there is a restriction placed on my account by the Defendant.

That I became more worried and insistent to know why a restriction was placed on my account without my notice and consent.
I then visited the Onopa Branch of the Defendant to get more details as to who authorized the said restriction and why was the said restriction placed on my account.

The Defendant declined giving me any information or details about the said restriction on my account until I was forced to pay and engage the services of a lawyer to help me out of the said predicament inflicted on me by the Defendant.

That I later engaged and paid for the services of my lawyer, Geku Tony Geku, Esq. of Counsel to write to the Defendant’s Headquarters here in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
That my lawyer, Geku Tony Geku, Esq. of Counsel then wrote a complaint letter to the Defendant’s headquarter here in Yenagao, Bayelsa State. The said letter written by my lawyer is herein pleaded and shall be relied upon during the trial of this case.

That it was after I wrote a letter to the Defendant through my lawyer that I got to know that the Defendant placed a restriction on my account on the basis of a notice filed in court as against the supposed valid order of court. The said letter from the Defendant showing that my account was restricted on the basis on a notice of interlocutory injunction is herein pleaded as same shall be relied upon during the hearing of this suit.

I state as a fact that there is no valid Order from a competent court of record that authorized the Defendant to place a restriction on my account.

That even when my lawyer tried in letting the Defendant know that my account cannot be restricted on the strength of a notice of interlocutory injunction that is yet to be heard and granted by a court, the Defendant were still adamant and refused removing the said restriction from my account.

That at the material time of the said restriction, my business money and the monthly stipends of the beneficiaries of the Opobow Camp of Clough Creek Egbemo-Angalabiri in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, under the on-going Presidential Amnesty Programme of the Federal Republic of Nigeria were all in the said account. The Claimant’s Bank Statement showing the said funds is herein pleaded and same shall be relied upon during the trial of this suit.   

That I became severely traumatized and didn’t know what to do because apart from the fact that I missed the business partnership opportunity that I was supposed to travel to Lagos to seal, the beneficiaries of the Opobow Camp of Clough Creek Egbemo-Angalabiri in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, under the on-going Presidential Amnesty Programme of the Federal Republic of Nigeria became a thorn on my flesh.

The beneficiaries of the Opobow Camp of Clough Creek Egbemo-Angalabiri in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, under the on-going Presidential Amnesty Programme of the Federal Republic of Nigeria never wanted to listen to any of my explanations rather than getting their money.

I became restless and could no longer have my eyes closed in my house.
That it was not until I went and borrowed money to pay for publicity and peaceful protest against the Defendant, the Defendant were still not willing to remove the said unlawful restriction from my account. The said publicity and peaceful protest is contained in a Video CD and same is herein pleaded and shall be relied upon during the hearing of this suit.

That this is not the first instant my account is being restricted unlawfully by the Defendant.
That I have suffered great set back in my business and financial loss as a result of the restriction on my account by the Defendant.
That the Defendant’s conduct is in breach of my fundamental rights to fair hearing and the right to access to my funds in the Defendant’s bank.

That the Defendant’s conduct further deprived me the opportunity of a business fortune.           
The Defendant conduct is reprehensive and offensive to the Central Bank of Nigeria Consumer Protection Regulations. The said CBN Regulation is herein pleaded and relied upon.

WHEREOF the Claimant is aggrieved and has brought this action against the defendant to claim  the following reliefs:

A DECLARATION that the Defendant’s conduct/act of placing a restriction on the Claimant’s Account Number:2055105538-AKPOS PASSMAN without an order of court is unlawful, illegal and a fundamental violation of the Claimant’s rights as a customer to the Defendant.

AN ORDER of this Honourable Court directing and mandating the Defendant to pay to the Claimant the total sum of N150,000,000.00 (One Hundred and Fifty Million Naira) only as exemplary and general damages for the emotional trauma, loss of business and other inconveniences that the Claimant suffered in the hands of the Defendant during the period of the unlawful restriction placed on the Claimant’s Account Number:2055105538-AKPOS PASSMAN by the Defendant.
The sum of N5,000,000.00 (Five Million Naira) as the cost of this suit.

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