Commercial banks have been ordered to comtinue operations as of Monday, February 20, 2023, according to a statement from the Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurers, and Financial Institutions.
The association announced this while delaying the start of its planned strike action on Monday.
Recall that there were numerous instances of protests and bank facilities being destroyed across the nation due to the dearth of naira.
On Sunday, the association’s president, Comrade Olusoji Oluwole, made this information public.
He did advise members to lock their gates and doors against consumers when their lives are in danger even without further instructions.
He said: “Following the recent unwarranted attacks on members of ASSBIFI, other bank workers, and the destruction of several branches across various states, we were forced to issue a stay-at-home order to our members to safeguard their lives, and properties of their various organisations.
“Based on the outcome of our discussion, we hereby release the following statements: while our members will resume at their functional branches immediately, the safety and security of their lives remain paramount to us and we continue to demand that visible and adequate security is provided in all operational areas. particularly places that are traditionally known to be volatile.
“In the event of any threat of attack by the public without visible protection, they have been advised to shut down and move to safe locations until such a time that their safety can be guaranteed,” he said.
He did, however, caution members to evaluate the level of security in their settings before starting operations.
Oluwole stated that the association is worried about the inflammatory and threatening remarks made when banks initially refused to take old N1000 and N500 notes due to instructions from the banking regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria.
