Affiong Etim, a woman in her 70s, was among the aged people seated on the tiled floor in the ATM gallery at the First Bank in Oron, Oron Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, on a Monday morning, in March 2023.
They were hoping to make withdrawals for the first time since 17 February, after the only commercial banks in the area had been vandalised during a protest over the nationwide naira scarcity.
On sighting this reporter walked into the gallery, Mrs Etim, aided by her walking stick, struggled to stand up.
“My son, please help me,” she muttered to the reporter whom she thought was a worker in the bank. “I want to withdraw money, will the machines pay today?”
The time was 10:05 a.m. The woman said she had been at the bank since 5 a.m.
About 15 of the bank customers, whom this newspaper learnt had been in the gallery since 5 a.m., were seen taking a nap – seated on the floor, with their back resting on the wall – while waiting hopelessly for ATMs which were not dispensing cash.
About 15 of the bank customers, whom this newspaper learnt had been in the gallery since 5 a.m., were seen taking a nap – seated on the floor, with their back resting on the wall – while waiting hopelessly for ATMs which were not dispensing cash.
Besides, people from the neighbouring local government areas of Mbo, Okobo, Urue-Offong Uruko, and Udung Uko also depended on the three banks for their transactions.
When the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reversed its restriction on currency circulation and Nigerians were beginning to get naira notes, residents of Oron and the other local government areas were still at the mercy of POS operators who were selling naira notes at unbelievable rates.
The residents alternatively resorted to traveling from Oron to Eket, about 37 minutes’ drive, for their bank transactions. Sometimes, they traveled as far as Uyo, the state capital, for it.
UBA, the most vandalised among the three banks, was deserted when our reporter visited in March.
At First Bank, seven out of the eight ATMs were destroyed while the premises of Access Bank looked like a war zone, with several big holes on the glass building. There were pieces of shattered glasses everywhere.
Keystone Bank and Ecobank had left Oron over two years ago but their abandoned properties were also vandalised by the protesters, Emmanuel Antai, a journalist in the area, told our reporter.
