A $68 million legal claim in the UAE was filed against Jeremy Awori, CEO of Ecobank Transnational Inc (ETI); ETI Specialized Resolutions Company (ETISRC); Ecobank Nigeria (ENG); and Oladele Alabi, Managing Director of ETISRC, on allegations of defamation, abusive proceedings and coercion in Nigeria.
The defendants are alleged to have attempted to coerce Wilben Trade and its CEO, Marcus Wade, into making substantial undue payments to ENG and ETISRC following a loss suffered in 2015. Over the last two years, accusations made by ETISRC, led by Oladele ‘Dele’ Alabi and ENG, have caused significant distress and reputational and financial harm to Wilben Trade.
In 2015, ENG suffered losses exceeding $42 million from two transactions with its existing customer, Agrico Agbe Limited and its associate company, Little Rose Trading LLC. At Ecobank’s request, Wilben Trade was brought into the transactions solely to provide an intermediary service and discount Letter of Credit issued by Ecobank and had no other involvement.
Following multiple failed attempts to recover losses from the original customers and those directly responsible, ETISRC turned its focus to Wilben Trade. Given the company’s limited role in the transaction, legal counsel has labelled the defendant’s pursuit as ‘an extortion attempt’.
In 2022, ETISRC escalated its actions, filing a report with the Nigeria Police Force through legal practitioners Wigwe & Co. The report alleged that Wilben Trade had improperly received $42,485,900 from EBN and had engaged in “Conspiracy and Fraudulent Conversion”. Wilben Trade contends that these allegations are baseless and were knowingly fabricated by Oladele Alabi, Managing Director of ETISRC, the ETI subsidiary responsible for the complaint, as a result of the ability of powerful private interests to instrumentalise public institutions and resources in Nigeria.
This legal action underscores Wilben Trade and Marcus Wade’s commitment to protecting its reputation and seeking redress for the significant distress and damages inflicted by these unfounded allegations.
Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe SAN, Partner, Sofunde, Osakwe, Ogundipe & Belgore Legal Practitioners, commented:
“In addition to taking action in Nigeria, our client is pursuing international legal action to address Ecobank’s abusive tactics and repair the ongoing damage caused to our client by Ecobank’s improper use of public institutions to pursue its baseless complaints against our client.
“Despite repeated appeals for constructive dialogue to address these issues and end the misconduct, Ecobank has refused to engage meaningfully.”