UPDATE: Beneficiaries protest as banks begin COVID-19 loan recovery

Commercial banks have commenced a massive recovery of the loans disbursed to Nigerians to cushion the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Several beneficiaries have been jolted by the deductions of thousands of naira from their bank accounts without any notice from the banks.

The loan was disbursed to households and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises affected by the COVID-19 pandemic by the Central Bank of Nigeria through the commercial banks in 2021.

The fund, which was managed by the NIRSAL Microfinance Bank, received thousands of applications, charged at five per cent with a moratorium that lasted till February 28, 2021.

Beneficiaries, expressed surprise over the deduction of money from their bank accounts.
A customer, who identified herself as Aunty Yinka, complained that a commercial bank allegedly removed N750,000 from the accounts operated by her and her son, noting that she received only N200,000 COVID-19 grant.

The aggrieved customer stated that she was yet to come to terms with the development, adding that the bank’s action had rendered her ‘financially insolvent.’

she said, “What happened is that last Friday around 4.48 pm, I checked my phone and saw a debit alert of N380,000. What was written was Global Standing Instruction.

‘’Initially, I thought it was from fraudsters and had to freeze my account. When I complained to customer care, they asked me if I had taken a loan or given out my Bank Verification Number during COVID-19.

“I didn’t take any loan but I gave out my BVN and that of my son to some friends and we got N200,000 and they told us it was a grant.

“But the surprising thing is that the bank removed N380,000 from my account and N370,000 from my son’s account, making a total of N750,000. I didn’t even spend the money I was debited, but I have reached out to those I gave my BVN during that time to know if they used my account to receive money.

“At least, if I had collected the money, I would be happy to refund it but I didn’t take it. I have also heard in my area that some people’s money has been removed too.”