Naira Crisis: Banks Count Their Losses In Billions Over Attacks

Commercial banks across the country have counted losses in billions of naira following pockets of protests that erupted from protests against cash scarcity.

Naija News reports that the Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI) has revealed that due to the recent attacks and destruction of bank facilities, banks have lost the sum of N5 billion across the country.

According to the President of the association, Oluwole Olusoji, a total of 17 bank branches have been attacked so far by angry protesters across the country, following the scarcity of naira notes.

Olusoji, who made the disclosure on Thursday at a news conference in Lagos as well confirmed that aside from burnt bank buildings and destroyed Automated Teller Machines (ATM), bank officials were also affected.

Olusoji submitted that “Notwithstanding the insecurity due to the destruction of business premises within the banking industry, and the impact on insurance organisations, we remain committed to going the extra mile in providing service to our customers in safe and secure environments.

“However, we value the lives of our members and colleagues and will not put them at any further risk. We have, therefore, 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.”

This platform recalls that angry proters destroyed a lot of bank facilities as well as attacked staff as a result of the naira crisis characterized by the CBN’s redesigned policy.