Naira Scarcity: Banks direct staff to dress down, Zenith shuts down activities nationwide as outrage grows
As days of rage continue across Nigeria over the scarcity of fuel and Naira notes, leading to attacks on banks and their staff, some Nigerian financial institutions have directed their staff to be cautious in their choice of outfit to the office.
Neusroom reliably gathered that at least five leading Nigerian commercial banks have issued new directives to their staff to ‘dress down’ and only dress to the office in business casual as part of measures to protect them from angry customers who are now attacking bankers on the street.
Some staff of First Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Zenith Bank, Access and Guaranty Trust Bank confirmed to Neusroom that they have been instructed by their respective employers to dress down to work in order not to attract attention to themselves.
“They told us the memo is from the CEO,” a banker told Neusroom.
In the last four days, there have been multiple videos circulating on social media with citizens claiming irate mob in different parts of Nigeria are attacking banks and their staff.
Some protesting youths in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Friday, also attacked the governor’s office and a branch of Wema Bank in the town.
The spokesperson of the Oyo Police Command, Adewale Osifeso, told Neusroom on Friday, February 3, 2023, that the Police gathered through intelligence that “certain unscrupulous elements have perfected plans to hijack the process, escalating the situation into full scale chaos by shutting down and attacking places of interest which includes but not limited to INEC facilities, Banks, Media houses, Schools, Correctional Centers and other critical infrastructures inclusive of looting major malls and business centers within the State.”
Amidst the rising cases of attacks, banks have directed their staffers to dress down to work and avoid wearing anything that could suggest they are bankers and make them a target.
“I didn’t see the memo, but our supervisor announced it to us and said the mail came from the head office,” one banker told Neusroom.
Meanwhile, Zenith bank has also instructed its staffers to sit at home as the bank shuts down activities nationwide on Tuesday, February 7, 2023.
“I think it was because of what happened at a branch in Asaba on Monday where some staff were seen in a viral video escaping from the bank through the fence,” a staff of the bank told Neusroom.
Some Neusroom correspondents who visited some branches of Zenith bank in Lagos and Abuja confirmed that customers are not allowed in. Police officers were also deployed to the Okota branch of the bank in Lagos.
“We are not open today,” a security officer at the Okota branch of Zenith bank told a Neusroom correspondent on Tuesday.
Zenith Bank is yet to respond to Neusroom’s request for comment for this story.
