The national president, Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI), Comrade Oluwole Olusoji has expressed concerns over attacks on banks’ staff and assets destruction by angry customers over scarcity of new Naira Notes.
Stating that job insecurity looms, he said, the moves by aggrieved banking customers will further hurt the financial institutions and the country’s economy at large.
On a daily basis, he said, the banking sector has continue to suffer job loss with the recent currency redesign policy and slow circulation of the new Naira while calling on the government to take urgent steps to address the issue and obey court orders.
He asserted that panic withdrawals by currency traders have persisted with the cashless systems in the country while urging the government to address the poor implementation of cash circulation in the country.
He further addressed the need to curb the wanton destruction of properties in the banking sector while highlighting the unfortunate events that took place in Edo, Delta, Oyo and Abeokuta, Ogun State where there were attacks on banks’ facilities and which resulted in seven banks been utterly destroyed.
While lamenting that casual labours in the informal sectors who rely on daily pay and income have suffered job loss, debt overhang, unemployment and unprecedented levels of poverty due to the low velocity of new Naira notes in circulation, he urged all the tiers of government to work together while insisting that various arms and institutions of government have been directly linked to fake and deceptive news. This misinformation, he said, must be checked from hurting the banking sector.
ASSBIFI president, while fielding questions from journalists in Lagos said, the sad incidents had amounted to personal losses, and injuries such that the insurance sector were faced with claims of more than N2 billion.
He noted that currency traders have seized the opportunity of the cashless system to engage in panic withdrawals while asserting that their activities has further eroded disposable income and working capitals of informal sector.
Reacting to question by this medium on his take over directives by some state governors who have directed the citizens in their states to continue to use the old Naira notes despite the CBN and President Muhammadu Buhari announcement, Oluwole replied, those state governors are just exposing bank workers and properties to more attacks.
Earlier in his briefing, the ASSBIFI helmsman warned the union would not hesitate to withdraw its members from work if they are under further attacks.
“However, we value the lives of our members and colleagues and will not put them at any further risk. We have put them on alert and shall instruct them without further warning to immediately stay away from their branches if these attacks on our members and facilities continue until such a time that they can be guaranteed of their personal safety and the security of their workplaces by the relevant authorities.
“We call on the public to desist from threatening or attacking our members, or destroying our properties as they will be only proverbially cutting their noses to spite their faces. We can only give what we have been provided with and nothing more,” he pointed out.
