The Economic and Financial Commission (EFCC) has announced the arrest of operations manager of a leading commercial bank in Abuja for refusing to load the bank’s Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) despite having N29 million of redesigned banknotes in the branch.
“More than five bank branches were covered on Monday by the EFCC operatives in Abuja. Similar exercises are ongoing in zonal commands across the country,” head, media and publicity of EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, said in a statement on Monday.
He, however, failed to disclose the identity of the manager and name of the bank.
Uwujaren said the operation will continue until normalcy is restored to the banking system.
“Nigerians finding it difficult to access their funds at any bank and suspects foul play should contact the commission, for immediate intervention,” he said in the statement.
Uwujaren said the operatives ordered the loading of all the ATMs and the payment of the stipulated amount across the counter to the delight of the distraught customers who had spent hours on queues without getting the new notes.
He said the discovery indicated a sabotage of the government’s monetary policy by some banks.
Nigerians have been facing serious issue of scarcity of the naira notes for about two weeks, leaving individuals and families to got to bed without feeding. The ATM machines have been crowded with bank customers. Some people even have to sleep over in ATM galleries in wait for the banks to load the machines with cash.
The Central Bank of Nigeria had assured of availability of the notes, but weeks after, Nigerians are left to suffer hardship due to scarcity of the notes.
