Zenith Bank has shut down branches in Lagos State over the fear of attacks by angry Nigerians due to the ongoing naira scarcity as a result of the naira redesign policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Nigerians have been going through hardships in getting their hands on the new naira notes as the February 10 deadline approaches.
This has led to attacks on some banks in the state, while states like Edo and Oyo have witnessed protests that degenerated into riots.
On Tuesday, our correspondents who visited some banks in Lagos State found out that they had shut down operations due to fear of attacks.
An inside source at Zenith Bank, Allen Branch, told revealed that they got a memo instructing them to vacate the office premises because of an impending attack.
The source, who craved anonymity, said despite the memo received late on Monday, they still went to the bank only to be told to go home for safety reasons.
However, on getting to the bank on Tuesday, the Head of Operations (HOP) had to chase everyone home by 9:30am for security reasons.
The source said, “We were not supposed to go to the bank today because a memo was sent yesterday that all branches should be shut. However, our HOP insisted we all come. On getting there, she became fearful as she had received information that other branches didn’t open. So, she ordered us all to go home.”
Our correspondencts visited to other branches of Zenith Bank on Iju Road, Agidingbi, Jones and Pen Cinema but they were all shut.
This comes a day after the Lagos State Police Command issued a warning that some groups are planning on unleashing violence in the state due to the Naira Scarcity.
Meanwhile, officials of Zenith Bank in Edo were seen in a viral video fleeing to escape the wrath of angry customers as scarcity of new naira notes bites harder in Nigeria.
REPORTERS AT LARGE gathered that many bank officials were told to dress informally and not carry their identity cards for security reasons.
Meanwhile, CBN has pointed an accusing fingers at banks as being saboteurs of its policy, banks denied this fact, adding that they were given a limited amount of the redesigned naira notes.
However, stakeholders have been faulting the CBN policy on the naira redesign and its timing. Many claimed it was a set-up to jeopardise the forthcoming general elections.
