The South East Revival Group (SERG) has hailed the Supreme Court judgment reportedly ordering Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) to pay the sum of N14 billion to vehicle manufacturing giant, Innoson Group, describing it as victory for all investors in Nigeria.

According to the pan-Igbo sociopolitical pressure group in a statement issued on Sunday and signed by its Convener and National Coordinator, Chief Willy Ezugwu, “Nigeria’s apex court had struck out GTB’s motion for stay of execution of the Enugu Court of Appeal Division’s order that GTB pays over N6 billion into an interest yielding account at the Court of Appeal.

“The Innoson’s legal team which was led by Prof McCarthy Mbadugha ESQ had told the Supreme Court that the Judgment debt which arose from excess and unlawful charges which GTB took from Innoson’s account now stood at over N14 billion.”

SERG urged “all Igbo sons and daughters to be on alert and ready to close their individual and corporate accounts with GTB in the event that the bank failed to pay the N14bn within 14 days as ordered by the court.”

Continuing, SERG said: “As we earlier insisted, Chief Innocent Chukwuma, the Innoson Group chairman, is being persecuted just because of the region he comes from.

“After failing to use the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to arm-twist the company to abandon its legitimate pursuit of justice, and the Supreme Court coming at a time the Innoson group boss has been under attacks from various quarters, we believed that justice shall prevail, and indeed, it has.

“It the GTB and its collaborators continue with their trend of schemes to put Innoson group out of business for complaining and asking that millions of naira in illegal deductions from its corporate account be refunded, we shall have no choice but to mobilise all Igbos to close their accounts with the bank anywhere in the world.

“The bank’s action has cast doubts on the integrity of the bank and its honesty as a corporate entity.

“We say ‘well-done’ to the Supreme Court for sustaining its position as the last hope of the oppressed in the society.

“The judgment is not just a victory for Innoson group but also for all investors in the country. The judgment will go a long way to boost the confidence of foreign investors, which the GTB’s manipulative actions in this matter may have scared away.”

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