Union Bank claims it is the legitimate owner of the $2.8m seized by the EFCC at Enugu airport

UNION Bank has come forward to claim ownership of the combine sum of combined cash of $2.8m seized from two men at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu which security forces thought was stolen public funds.

Yesterday, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested the two men after the money was found on them. It has been thought that the money belonged to politicians who were either laundering it, looking to purchase arms with the cash or using it to buy votes ahead of next year's elections.

Following their arrest the two suspects mentioned their affiliation to Union Bank and Bankers Warehouse, a cash-in-transit contractor. Confirming this, Union Bank strongly denied any wrongdoing, saying the practice of moving money around its branches was standard in the banking industry and its contractors were licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

In a string of tweets directed at the EFCC, Union Bank criticised the anti-graft office for being too hasty at disclosing the development to the public, prior to the completion of investigations. EFCC spokesman Tony Orilade, has likened the seizure to a development a few weeks when its operatives recovered about N940m from a Lebanese businessman and another $370,000 at Lagos airport.

However, responding to Union Bank, Mr Orilade said: “We made serious efforts to get Union Bank officials in Enugu and other parts of the country to confirm details of the money but there was no one ready to cooperate with us. We then decided to count the money before the suspects and took it to the CBN in Enugu where it was deposited and records taken.”

He added that as of yesterday evening, Union Bank representatives had not come around to claim the money or ask about their staff members arrested. “It was after we released a statement to the media that they started calling and making noise,” Mr Orilade said.