Kuda Bank reacts to viral video of customer being manhandled by police

Kuda Bank has reacted to the viral video of a customer being dragged out of its office by armed police officers currently trending on social media.

The video, which was published on Twitter showed a Kuda client being dragged while lying flat on the floor, and has since sparked outrage among Nigerians.

The bank has today responded in a statement revealing the details of what occurred at its office, leading to policemen dragging the customer in the now-viral video.

It said the unfortunate scenario occurred as a result of the Kuda Fraud Team placing a freeze on the consumer’s account.

It all started with a message from Kuda Bank informing the customer that it was conducting a review on his account after several efforts to reach him.

“Hi Abdulqudus, We tried reaching you on your mobile line but efforts have been futile, please be informed that we are conducting a review with regards to the recent transactions made on your account to enable us better understand and profile your account appropriately,” Kuda’s message read.

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Kuda added, “Please let us know the source and purpose of the inflow.”

However, in the course of clarifying the account freeze, it seems things went a little out of hand.

The victim’s brother @Ayam_Jamotech took to his Twitter to explain the event. He said, “So my brother went to @kudabankhelp office today at Yaba to find out the reason why his account was locked and yet not to be opened after dropping his proof to them that it’s legit money and not fraud money at all. So funny how when he got there this morning. They sent their MOPOL.”

The allegations were confirmed when a video surfaced showing the victim being manhandled by the armed police officer.

The statement partly reads, “It has come to our attention that a couple of videos are being circulated online regarding the experience of one of our customers yesterday. The videos show the customer being forcefully escorted off our premises by members of the Nigerian Police Force. We wish to unequivocally state that Kuda Microfinance Bank Limited (“Kuda MFB”) does not condone or support such violence in any manner, particularly against its customers.”

The Bank said that its actions regarding account closure are meant to conform to existing laws put down by the apex bank. It said, “As a financial institution licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, we have an obligation to comply with the mandates of all applicable government and law enforcement agencies, supported by the appropriate documentation.”

However, the Bank said that the manhandling of the consumer was because the customer failed to cooperate with the law enforcement agencies during their investigation of the alleged criminal activity on the customer’s account.

The Bank added that no staff of the Kuda MFB was involved in the unfortunate incident that was captured in the video.