Jaiz Bank has come under fire as scores of aggrieved customers protested at its main branch in Jos, Plateau State, over alleged disappearance of millions of naira from their accounts.
The protesters, who stormed the bank’s premises on Monday with placards, demanded the intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the Federal Government to recover their money.
One of the affected customers, Hashim Faruk, alleged that he lost N65 million invested in the bank’s Mudarabah scheme, involving funds belonging to him, his mother, wife and children.
OrijoReporter picked up the report first published by Daily Trust, which detailed the customers’ allegations and their demand for a refund.
Faruk, a resident of Jos North Local Government Area, said the crisis dated back to 2022, when several customers allegedly lost money through transactions involving a bank employee.
He claimed that the bank reported the incident to the Criminal Investigation Department of the Plateau State Police Command, which investigated the matter and identified a staff member, Habiba Abdulrahman, as the alleged culprit.
According to him, the police recommended that the affected customers be refunded, but the bank had yet to comply.
Faruk explained that he initially invested N50 million in the Mudarabah scheme but increased the amount to N65 million in 2025 after the bank reportedly promised improved returns following an upgrade.
Mudarabah is an investment arrangement in which customers provide funds for a bank to invest in business ventures, with profits shared according to agreed terms.
He said the scheme offered customers returns on a monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly basis.
Faruk further alleged that Habiba was arrested after the bank identified her in connection with the disputed transactions, while some of the money was recovered through the police.
However, he lamented that his N65 million was yet to be refunded despite the investigation and alleged recovery.
The customer appealed to security and anti-graft agencies to intervene, saying the loss had left him struggling to feed his family, pay his children’s school fees and buy medicines for his mother and children.
Other protesters also accused the bank of allowing unauthorised withdrawals from their accounts.
While some claimed they invested in the Mudarabah scheme, others said they only operated ordinary accounts and never authorised any investment transactions.
They alleged that the bank told them, after receiving their complaints, that a staff member had transferred their money into several accounts.
The protesters insisted that the transactions were carried out within the bank’s premises using documents approved by its staff, arguing that they dealt directly with the bank and should not be left to bear the losses.
One of the affected customers, Rose Dayo, said she invested her money in a fixed deposit scheme but later discovered that her account had been emptied.
She explained that she completed the necessary procedures at the bank and was issued a certificate confirming the investment.
Dayo said she only discovered that the money was missing when she visited the bank to withdraw some funds.
Another protester, Zainab Mahmud Dalladi, alleged that money she kept for an orphan in her husband’s account was also withdrawn without their consent.
She said she deposited the funds in her husband’s account because he was a customer of the bank.
Dalladi added that when she attempted to withdraw the money, she discovered that the account had been emptied.
She claimed that the bank’s management subsequently told her that a staff member identified as Habiba had withdrawn the funds.
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