Nigeria’s oldest bank, First Bank has sacked over 100 workers following the revelation of a ₦40 billion fraud allegedly orchestrated by Tijani Muiz Adeyinka, a manager within the operations team.
According to Tech Cabal, the mass retrenchment was carried out in July 2024.
Adeyinka, who is currently evading arrest, reportedly manipulated chargebacks to funnel the money into accounts he controlled over a two-year period.
It was alleged that at least 120 employees, including full-time and contract staff, were dismissed.
The head of transactions was also among those fired.
The affected employees were accused of negligence, as the bank’s management argued that such a significant fraud could not have occurred without the awareness of Adeyinka’s superiors.
The CEO at the time declared a zero-tolerance policy for supervisory negligence.
In May, reports revealed how 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 attempted to manage the situation discreetly.
However, the approach changed immediately the fraud was made public.
Numerous 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 fraud’s exposure.
Adeduntan had previously 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.
