Zenith Bank has shut down branches in Lagos State over the fear of attacks by angry Nigerians due to the ongoing naira scarcity due to 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 state banks, while protests in states like Edo and Oyo have degenerated into riots.
On Tuesday, our correspondents visited some banks in Lagos State and discovered they had shut down operations due to fear of attacks.
An inside source at Zenith Bank, Allen Branch, revealed that they got a memo instructing them to vacate the office premises because of an impending attack.
The source, who craved anonymity, said that despite receiving the memo late Monday, they 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 correspondents visited other Zenith Bank branches on Iju Road, Agidingbi, Jones, and Pen Cinema, but they were all closed.
This comes a day after the Lagos State Police Command warned that some groups plan to unleash 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, the CBN has accused banks of sabotaging its policy. Banks have denied this, adding that they were given a limited number 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.
