SHOCKING!!! Dead Woman ‘Withdraws’ Over N500k From Bank In Lagos

Mrs Cordelia Iwegbuna Idowu Okocha
was 50 when she died of breast
cancer, on August 7, 2004, and was
buried in September 2004. However,4
years after her death, she ‘visited’ her
bank and withdrew more than
N527,500 from her savings account in
a first generation bank (name
withheld).
The statement of account of the dead
woman indicated that she withdrew
N500,000 by ‘self ’ on February 19,
2008. On February 28, 2008, she made
another withdrawal of N27,500 by
‘self’. She made all the withdrawals at
the Awolowo Road branch of the
bank.
She was survived by her only child,
Chukwudi Uche Okocha who was 17
at the time of his mother’s death. He
said:
“My mother died on August 7, 2004 as
a result of breast cancer and my dad
died on February 1, 2006. He slept and
did not wake up. I am the only child
of my parents, I was 17 years old
when my mother died.
My mum was sick for about eight
months, suffering from breast cancer
before she gave up. Since my parents
died, I’ve been managing, trying to
cope through the help of family and
friends.
There is a particular family that took
me under their care and since then
I’ve been living with them. And to
God be the glory, they have been
trying. I got admission into University
of Lagos to study Mathematics in
2006. It has not been easy not having
one’s parents around.
“My mother spent a lot of money
when she was sick due to the nature
of the sickness. We all know that it is
not easy to manage cancer. But about
a month before she died, she told me
that she had something in her savings
account; that was her salary account.
She told me that whatever happened,
there was something left in the
account. When she died, she was paid
her July salary. Before she died, she
told me that she had over N200,000
left in her account and when she died
her salary was paid into the account.
So, there was over N500,000 in the
account when she died.”
“But being the only one, I was not
able to process the transfer of the
money to my account. My dad was
unable to process it before he died.
Between 2008 and 2009, I tried to
process the letter of administration of
my mother’s estate through the Lagos
probate court and they gave me the
certificate to get the money in the
account.
That was when I applied for the
balance and they told me that the
balance was about N500. I was
shocked because she told me what
she had left in the account before she
died and I know she did not go to the
bank after she told me what she had
in the bank.
But even if there was no money, the
July salary should have been there
because it was paid after she had
died. And I have a copy of the pay
slip for the July salary. When I met
Barrister Eluma, I complained to him
that there was something wrong with
the account.
“When we went to see the then
branch manager of the bank, she
asked if I was sure that my mother
was dead. But she was not ready to
disclose anything. So, I felt there was
foul play somewhere and I decided to
see a lawyer and see what we could
do about it.
We discovered that two withdrawals
were made from my mother’s account
in February, 2008; that is four years
after she died. Did she come from her
grave to withdraw the money from
her account?
It is a savings account, meaning that
she was the only person who could
make withdrawals from the account.
So, how come withdrawals were
made four years after she died?
The withdrawals were made by ‘self’
according to the statement of account.
It means that somebody, most likely a
staff, who knows she was dead or
knows something about her withdrew
the money.
“What I need now is for them to
refund the money and pay some
compensation for the inconveniences
I have gone through over the years. If
I had been able to access the money,
it would have been very useful,
particularly when I was in school.
Again, the value of the money has
depreciated in the past 11 years. You
can imagine what I could have done if
I had gotten the money then. So, they
should compensate me.”
He has written a petition to the
Assistant Inspector General of Police
in-charge of Zone 2 Command,
Nigeria Police, Zone 2 headquarters,
Onikan, Lagos. Dated June 17, 2015, to
help him retrieve the money.

Source: The Sun