Widow of late Ecobank staff denies husband stole missing N1.2m

The controversy surrounding the death of Ecobank staff, Babatunde Oke, who died in the custody of Falomo Police Station after he took a bottle of soft drink, took a new dimension yesterday, with the wife, Bunmi Oke, insisting that her husband did not even stole the missing N1.2 million he admitted to have stolen.

According to her, Babatunde Oke claimed to have stolen the money because he wanted to keep his job. She explained that the deceased went to the office, after a week casual leave, only to hear from the grapevine that some money was missing from the office ATM.

 She said: “My husband was the head teller. He and his boss were in charge of the ATM. The two of them were asked to share the money and pay it.

“The usual thing is that before money is uploaded into the ATM, my husband and his boss count it, and sign the certificate to show the money was complete.

“The office said they must return the money the same day or else the matter would escalate and they could lose their jobs. Since my husband is the authorizer and he did not want to lose his job, he agreed to pay back the money.”

 The deceased ran from pillar to post, attempting to raise his own share of the money, but the situation changed after the bank instructed that there was a change of plan and Babatunde Oke would have to pay the whole N1.2 million.

A colleague in the bank alerted Babatunde, that whether he paid the money or not, he would still lose his job, since everyone was now talking about the missing fund. Apparently resigned to his fate, Oke resigned, hoping now to have ample time to raise the money and pay the bank.

It was the midst of all these, that he sustained a domestic injury, which his wife said he did not treat because his mind was set on raising the money and saving his job.

After he resigned however, he had been called to office and he had rushed over, hoping to hear good news. According to Mrs. Oke, her husband did not drive, due to the seriousness of his injury. He took commercial bus to the office.

The news after all was not good, as he told his wife during telephone conversation, that the bank was handing over to the police.

The bank Public Relations Office said it would make a statement after the outcome of the autopsy result, which everyone, including the police is waiting for.