Jerome kender intet til sagen, har ikke hørt om den fra sine kolleger i banken eller bosserne i Europa og er forskrækket over de skarpe anklager fra landets justitsminister, men han genvinder fatningen og siger til ministeren, at der må være tale om en fejl, eftersom Jerome ved en grundig gennemgang af banken i starten ikke fandt de uregelmæssigheder, som ministeren nævner. Ministeren lytter men rejser sig så brat og går uden at sige farvel. Næste morgen bliver banken invaderet af en gruppe soldater med maskingeværer. De beordrer Jerome og staben til at sætte sig i et mødelokale. Her kræver de, at Jerome øjeblikkeligt udleverer de 250.000 dollars, som justitsministeren her bedt om. Jerome er chokeret over de mange våben og uniformerede soldater i banken, men får sagt, at han vil tale med deres leder. De nægter, og siger, at han og staben ikke slipper ud, før pengene er betalt. Jerome nægter. Banken har nu en regulær gidselsituation med soldater som gidseltagere og Jerome og staben som gidsler. Det rygtes i Conakry, og næste morgen lukker alle banker i solidaritet med Jeromes bank og af frygt for at blive udsat for det samme. Situationen trækker ud, går i hårdknude. Jerome nægter at betale, og soldaterne på deres side tør ikke skyde ham og bankpersonalet. En myrdet hvid bankchef kan blive svært at forklare det internationale samfund. Jerome fastholder, at han vil tale med soldaternes leder, og til sidst lykkes det. Han får ham i telefonen, og siger til ham, at soldaterne skal fjernes fra banken. Fra den anden ende af røret lyder det: ”Ja, hvis I giver dem de 250.000”. Jerome ved ikke, hvad han skal gøre, fortæller han, men han tænker situationen igennem og når frem til, at eneste mulige løsning er at forsøge at komme et trin op i systemet. Han insisterer derfor på at få premierministeren i tale. Efter nogen diskussion frem og tilbage lykkes det. To soldater eskorterer Jerome til premierministerens kontor, mens bankens stab bliver tilbage som gidsler. Jerome fortæller: ”Jeg forstod ikke helt, hvordan det kunne lade sig gøre sådan uden videre at komme igennem til premierministeren, men det kan kun hænge sammen med, at soldaterne og deres leder troede, at premierministeren havde sagt god for justitsministerens aktion mod banken, altså at ordren var kommet helt fra top”. Men premierministeren har ikke givet ordren, viser det sig. Han har hørt om bankbesættelsen, og overfor Jerome ”fordømmer” han nu ”i de skarpeste vendinger” justitsministeren og lover at checke op på, om domstolene er involveret, som justitsministeren truede Jerome med. Jerome bliver eskorteret tilbage til banken. Her opdager han, at premierministeren i mellemtiden har sendt sin egen deling soldater, som har afvæbnet justitsministerens soldater og er ved at lægge dem i håndjern. Jerome: ”Det var først på eftermiddagen. Vi fik åbnet banken en time senere, og det var så den historie. Vi har aldrig senere hørt et ord om det fra myndighederne. Heller ikke en undskyldning har vi fået. Men justitsministeren blev fjernet fra sin post. Om det så var på grund af bankbesættelsen, ved jeg ikke”.

Jerome knows nothing about the case, has not heard of it from his colleagues in the bank or the bosses in Europe and is appalled by the sharp accusations from the country's justice minister, but he regains his composure and tells the minister that there must be a mistake, since Jerome at a thorough review of the bank initially did not find the irregularities mentioned by the Minister. The minister listens but gets up so abruptly and leaves without saying goodbye. The next morning, the bank is invaded by a group of soldiers with machine guns. They order Jerome and the staff to sit in a meeting room. Here, they demand that Jerome immediately hand over the $ 250,000 requested by the Attorney General here. Jerome is shocked by the many weapons and uniformed soldiers in the bank, but is told he will talk to their leader. They refuse, saying he and the staff will not let go until the money is paid. Jerome refuses. The bank now has a regular hostage situation with soldiers as hostages and Jerome and staff as hostages. It is rumored in Conakry, and the next morning all banks close in solidarity with Jerome's bank and for fear of being exposed to the same thing. The situation drags on, goes into a stalemate. Jerome refuses to pay and the soldiers on their side dare not shoot him and the bank staff.A murdered white bank manager can be difficult to explain to the international community. Jerome insists he wants to talk to the soldiers' leader, and eventually succeeds. He gets him on the phone, and tells him that the soldiers need to be removed from the bank. From the other end of the tube it reads: "Yes, if you give them the 250,000". Jerome does not know what to do, he says, but he thinks the situation through and arrives at the conclusion that the only possible solution is to try to get one step up in the system. He therefore insists on getting the Prime Minister to speak. After some discussion back and forth, it succeeds. Two soldiers escort Jerome to the prime minister's office, while the bank's staff remains hostage. Jerome says: "I did not quite understand how it could be done so easily to get through to the Prime Minister, but it can only be related to the fact that the soldiers and their leader thought that the Prime Minister had approved of the Minister of Justice's action against the bank, that is, that the order had come from the top ”. But the prime minister has not given the order, it turns out.He has heard about the bank occupation, and to Jerome he "condemns" now "in the sharpest terms" the Minister of Justice and promises to check up on whether the courts are involved, which the Minister of Justice threatened Jerome with. Jerome is escorted back to the bank. Here he discovers that the Prime Minister, meanwhile, has sent his own division of soldiers, who have disarmed the Justice Minister's soldiers and are about to handcuff them. Jerome: “It was early in the afternoon. We got the bank opened an hour later and that was that story. We have never since heard a word about it from the authorities. Nor have we received an apology. But the justice minister was removed from his post. I do not know if it was because of the bank occupation ”.