Four weeks after President Muhammadu Buhari announced total lockdown in Lagos, Ogun and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to check the spread ...
Nigerians berate banks for shutting down branchesWe were least prepared for the chaos, says managerFour weeks after President Muhammadu Buhari announced total lockdown in Lagos, Ogun and the Federal Capital Territory to check the spread of coronavirus, otherwise called COVID-19, a decision was taken by the Federal Government to relax the stay-at-home order with effect from Monday, May 4, 2020 on account of the hardship experienced by the people, particularly hunger.
There is a widespread opinion that whatever gain had been made in the battle to curtail the spread of coronavirus in the four months that people were forced to stay indoors might have been rubbished within a few minutes of the commencement of the relaxation order. Okafor’s view was shared by Mrs. Ibironke Asaju, who works in another bank about five buildings away.
Mr. Chukwudi Mezie, a Fidelity Bank customer, said: “I have an account with Fidelity Bank. After such a long period at home, I needed to do some urgent banking transactions. “I was finally able to enter the banking hall on Wednesday. But to do that, I had to send my younger brother to the bank very early in the morning to secure a tally number for me, and he got number 39. I was able to enter the bank and conclude one or two transactions.
There was physical aggression as well as verbal exchanges among the customers. In the end, majority of them could not secure entry into the banking hall. “I didn’t go out, so I am not even aware that banks closed their doors to customers. But I saw lots of crowd in front of practically all the banks. He said: “What I saw about social distancing in Lagos is totally wrong. Lagosians are not practising it. By next week, the number of people infected with COVID-19 is going to be high.
A Lagos-based media practitioner, Dele Iwagbemi, who spoke with one of our reporters on the phone, was furious about the callous way he felt many of the banks treated their customers, especially in the first few days of the week. “In my own case, even though I needed money badly, I didn’t bother to venture into the bank. One of my accounts is in Polaris Bank. Unfortunately, my ATM to the account had expired and I had not renewed it when the lockdown came on us suddenly, and I had no money in Sterling Bank where I have my ATM.
“It is so disappointing. What are the banks up to? Are they trying to save cost at the expense of human lives? It is so unfortunate. I will suggest that even though some of the banks later in the week belatedly opened more branches, the regulatory authorities should sanction the banks involved to serve as deterrent. The damage has already been done.”
“In many of the banks’ branches, canopies and chairs were set up outside the bank’s premises for customers to sit while waiting to be attended to. In many others, the customers ran riot, many of the customers were impatient, some threatening to close their accounts if they were not allowed into the banking hall,” one of the sources who spoke in confidence, said.
He said many of the customers were there to make cash withdrawals, and a good number there to secure and sell spaces to customers that are in a hurry to be attended to.
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