Naira redesign: Banks shut in Calabar as hardship bites

Virtually all the banks in Calabar remained shut, on Wednesday, leaving customers stranded as the hardship created by the Naira scarcity continues to bite harder.

On a visit to Calabar Road, the business area of the city, all the banks had their gates shut while thousands of customers were standing outside waiting for the banks to open.

The banks which have been offering skeletal services by dispensing 10,000 naira maximum to each customer last week reduced the sum to 5, 000 on Monday and Tuesday and finally shut their gates on Wednesday.

“We are out of cash. We started paying a maximum of 20,000 new notes last week to customers and when we exhausted what we had, we resorted to paying 5,000 from the 100 and 50.00 notes we had at our disposal and those notes to have been exhausted” A manager of one of the banks told TrackNews .

He said the banks collected old notes till Tuesday but stopped on Wednesday following Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, directives.

“We have tried our best though we feel bad that we cannot serve our customers there is nothing we can do until we have supplies of new notes from CBN”

Many of the customers looking dejected and frustrated were still standing at the gates of the bank at about midday expecting a miracle of sorts to happen.

“I know these people are being wicked. They are giving the money to pos operators to sell for them at the black market while we stand here under the sun” Anietie Daniel a customer of one of the banks lamented.

He said pos operators collect 400. from every 1000 naira which is the height of greed and insensitivity.

“Tell me, how much do I have that I should give 400 to the POS man for every 1,000 naira of my money? We have no food at home and we cannot get money from the bank. Is this not worse than a war situation?”. He queried.

A POS operator told our reporter that they too buy the cash they sell so they have to make a profit by adding some percentage to the amount they bought the money.

Our reporter could not speak with the Branch Controller of CBN in Calabar because he was said to be in a meeting.