BY AGNES NWORIE, ABAKALIKI
A Microfinance Bank in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, has been caught up in a legal web following the sale of a landed property presented to it as collateral for an overdraft by its customer.
Ndiagu Microfinance Bank Nigeria Limited, in 2008, was said to have gotten a mortgaged landed property made up of six developed flats, on Plot 185, Azumili Layout, at number 46, Udemezue Street, Abakaliki, as collateral for N9 million overdrafts from one Senator Sylvanus Ngele at the interest rate of 4 per cent per month.
The former lawmaker was expected to finish payment within 12 calendar months, but for some reasons, he was not able to finish the payment of the said overdraft and the accumulated interest, hence the sale of the collateral by the bank to one Nnaji Emmanuel Ngwu at the sum of N22 million.
Consequently, the former Senator dragged the bank and the collateral buyer to a High Court sitting in Abakaliki for redress and he got a judgement in his favour.
He accused the bank of overcharging him at 4 percent interest per month instead of maximum of 12 per cent per annum prescription and stipulation of the Central Bank of Nigeria, demanded the return of the Certificate of Occupancy of the building and other title documents handed over to the bank in the course of the said transactions, among other reliefs sought.
The court, presided over by Justice Benson Ogbu in the suit marked HAB/8/2011, among other declarations, held that the action of the bank was unlawful since there was no court order of foreclosure authorizing sale of the mortgaged landed property by the bank.
The court returned the right of ownership of the said property to Senator Sylvanus Ngele, the original owner.
The buyer of the said collateral, in a suit marked HAB/18/2020, dragged the bank and Ngele to a High Court sitting in Abakaliki presided over by Justice Iheanacho Chima.
Ngwu sought the refund of the N22 million that was paid to procure the property.
He prayed for, “A declaration of the court that the deliberate conduct and actions of the bank in advertising to sell and selling the said mortgaged landed property, subject matter of the building certificate of occupancy dated 04/06/1993 duly deposited with the bank, offered and used as collateral for overdraft facilities to the plaintiff, without a foreclosure order made by any court is embarrassing, vexation, scandalous and amounts to conducts and acts done to cause pain and undue hardship on the plaintiff (collateral buyer).”
Justice Chima ordered the Microfinance bank to refund Ngwu’s money and also pay him the sum of N500,000 as damages.
Meanwhile, in an interview, counsel to the bank, Jacob Anosike, commended the court for the judgement with a caveat that the judgement would be appealed.
