Strike: Bank customers in panic withdrawals in Zamfara

Security agents attached to commercial banks as well as bank staff on Monday found it difficult to handle multitude of customers who took over all available spaces as a result of panic transactions, ahead of the impending strike by the organised labour.

A Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) who went round some of the banks reports that customers had taken seriously the threat by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to begin an indefinite strike from Tuesday, Nov. 6.

The labour union is protesting the failure of the Nigerian government at both state and federal levels to implement a new National minimum wage for civil servants.

The workers are demanding an upward  review of the minimum wage from N18, 000 to N30, 000 but the negotiations had continued to elude the parties involved in the negotiation.

When contacted, most of the bank workers in the state capital complained that they were overstretched as the customers had taken over both the Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and across the counter transaction.

The bankers said, the issue became more serious as the transactions were coming at the end of the month when the customers were being paid their salaries.

Similarly, markets and filling stations were recording unprecedented occupation by the customers who had thronged the business areas on panic buying in readiness for the impending strike.

A cross section of the customers who spoke to NAN said that since no one could say what would actually happen, it was better to prepare for the worse.

They, however, appealed to all parties involved in the negotiations to ensure amicable resolution of the crisis in order to save the majority of Nigerians from untold hardship.