Cleric demands N5bn from FCMB over claim Magu paid N570m into church account

Prophet Emmanuel Omale has demanded that First City Monument Bank (FCMB) and its managing director, Adam Nuru, pay him N5 billion damages.

Omale is the general overseer of Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry. He made the request in a suit he filed at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

The bank had reported to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) that the suspended acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, paid N570 million into the church account of the cleric.

In a suit marked FCT/HC/CV/2020, Omale said the bank accused him falsely.

“Sometime on or about the 6th day of July 2020 the former acting chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, was arrested and summoned to the Presidential Villa, Abuja, to appear before the Presidential Investigation Committee on the Alleged Mismanagement of the EFCC, Federal Government Recovered Assets and Finances From May 2015 to May 2020.

“That one of the key allegations levelled at the Presidential Investigation Committee against Mr. Ibrahim Magu, was that the 2nd Claimant (Prophet Omale) fraudulently and corruptly purchased a real estate property for Mr. Ibrahim Magu in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates with the said sum of N573, 228, 04 allegedly credited as an inflow into the 1st Claimant’s (church’s) Corporate Current Account No: 1486743019 in the year 2016,” part of the cleric’s statement of claim read.

The claimant told the court that owing to the investigation and negative media reports, his family was exposed to public ridicule and their spiritual calling was insulted.

READ ALSO: Abuja pastor reacts to report he bought N573m property on Magu’s behalf in Dubai

He added that even his wife, Deborah Omale, had to appear before a Presidential Investigation Committee at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on August 10, 11, and 12, 2020 because of the allegation.

He said their lead Senior Counsel, Gordy Uche (SAN), and a team of four senior lawyers represented them at the panel and were paid N15 million for their service.

He added that Nuru, when he was invited by the panel, said in his testimony “that the said N573 million was credited to the bank account of the 1st claimant (church) in error and that the error was not discovered by the defendant for over four years.”

According to Omale the law firm of Gordy Uche (SAN) & Co., was paid the sum of N75 million to institute the suit against FCMB and attached a copy of the receipt for the said professional fees to the statement of claim.

Stating he had so far incurred a lost of N180.5 million due to payment of legal fees and personal losses, Omale prayed for a declaration of the court that the FCMB negligently breached the fiduciary duty of care it owes the claimants by its false automated report to the NFIU of a suspicious credit inflow of N573 million into the church account.

“The sum of N5,000,000, 000.00 (Five Billion Naira) being exemplary, aggravated, special and general damages against the defendant for the negligent breach of its fiduciary duty of care to the claimants by its false automated report to the NFIU of a suspicious credit inflow of N573, 228, 040. 41 into the 1st claimant’s corporate current account number 1486743019 with the defendant, which has occasioned grave damages to the claimants,” he stated further in his statement of claim,

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