A Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered OPay Digital Services Limited to pay N5 million in damages after ruling that the fintech company unlawfully froze a customer’s bank account without a valid court order, according to the court’s judgment.
The applicant, Ikechukwu Chukwuma Precious, maintained account number 8162404788 with OPay Digital Services Limited. Court documents showed that his account was allegedly frozen from December 11, 2023, prompting him to file a fundamental rights enforcement suit marked FHC/L/CS/1653/2024, titled IKECHUKWU CHUKWUMA PRECIOUS v. OPAY DIGITAL SERVICES LIMITED.
In its judgment, the court held that OPay’s decision to freeze and restrict access to the applicant’s account without lawful justification violated Section 44 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which guarantees the right to own movable property.
The court declared that the continued restriction placed on the account without a valid court order was illegal, unconstitutional, null and void.
The court consequently ordered OPay to immediately lift the restriction on the account and restore the applicant’s unrestricted access to his funds, including the ability to make withdrawals and deposits.
The judgment also restrained OPay, its agents, privies and any persons acting on its behalf from freezing or restricting the account in the future except in accordance with the law.
In addition, the court awarded N5 million in damages to the applicant for the violation of his fundamental rights.
Explaining its decision, the court held that the applicant had proved his case and described OPay’s actions as “unjustifiable, unwarranted and unlawful.”