Nigeria’s oldest bank, First Bank, has fired more than 100 workers following the discovery of a ₦40 billion fraud allegedly carried out by Tijani Muiz Adeyinka, a manager in the operations team.
Tech Cabal reports that the mass layoffs occurred in July 2024. Adeyinka, who is currently evading arrest, reportedly manipulated chargebacks to divert funds into accounts he controlled over two years.
At least 120 employees, including full-time and contract staff, were dismissed. The head of transactions was also among those fired. The bank’s management argued that such a large-scale fraud could not have happened without the knowledge of Adeyinka’s superiors, accusing the affected employees of negligence. The CEO at the time enforced a zero-tolerance policy for supervisory negligence.
In May, reports revealed how Adeyinka exploited his final authorization authority to carry out the scheme undetected. After the fraud was uncovered in March, the bank initially suspended several operations team members and tried to handle the situation discreetly. However, this changed once the fraud became public.
Many employees were detained by the Nigerian Police Force, with some held for at least six hours and required to post bail for their release. Their personal accounts were frozen, except those with First Bank.
In a related development, First Bank’s CEO, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, resigned abruptly in April 2024, eight months before the end of his term, following the exposure of the fraud. Adeduntan had been reinstated for a third term by the Central Bank in April 2021 after an attempted replacement by First Bank’s board was blocked due to lack of regulatory approval. His sudden departure was linked to the controversy surrounding his tenure.
First Bank has not issued any official comments on the matter.
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