Catholic bishop laments treatment of Nigerians abroad, says Vatican Bank restricted withdrawals from his account

• Catholic Bishop Godfrey Onah says the Vatican Bank required special authorisation before he could withdraw money from his account.

• He claims the restriction was based on customers' countries of birth and complained about the treatment of Nigerians in Italy.

• The claims have not been independently verified, although rights groups have previously reported banking restrictions affecting Nigerians in Italy.

Catholic Bishop of Nsukka Diocese, Most Rev. Godfrey Onah, has said he was asked to obtain special authorisation before withdrawing money from his account at the Vatican Bank, and that he was told the rule depends on a customer's place of birth.

Onah made the remarks in a video shared on X on Wednesday, in which he addressed an audience in Italy on the difficulties Nigerians face abroad. "For us Nigerians, the very fact that you are a Nigerian is a problem," he said.

He said he visited the bank two days earlier to collect money from his account and was told he needed approval from the administration or secretariat because he had passed the limit on cash withdrawals. "It wasn't that way before," he said.

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According to the bishop, Father Johnson, who was with him, asked whether the rule applied to everyone or only to bishops. The answer, he said, was that it depends on where a person was born.

Onah took this to mean the rule targets Nigerians, and said Nigerian-born customers cannot withdraw certain amounts from Italian banks, including the Vatican Bank, even if they are bishops.

He also asked Nigerians in Italy who had recently tried to open PostePay accounts whether they had succeeded, saying they no longer could and that the rule applies only to Nigerians.

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Complaints about PostePay have been reported in Italy before. The Italian legal group ASGI said in 2023 that Poste Italiane had for months refused basic accounts and PostePay Evolution cards to Nigerian nationals.

It said the reason informally given was compliance with anti-money laundering rules, and that refusals based only on nationality were not legitimate.

In April 2023, an Italian citizen born in Nigeria told ANSA she was refused a PostePay Evolution card after being told Nigerians carried a money laundering risk flag.

Poste Italiane said checks had been carried out and invited her to return for the card. Her card was blocked again in July this year, which Poste Italiane described as a temporary technical problem resolved within hours.

Nigeria was removed from the Financial Action Task Force grey list in October 2025 and from the European Union's list of high-risk jurisdictions for money laundering in January 2026, however these issues still persist.