Even after the Supreme Court issued a ruling prohibiting the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, from enforcing the February 10 deadline for the phase-out of the N200, N500, and N1000 old naira notes, currency fraud in Akwa Ibom State persisted within the week.
It was noted that as long as there was a shortage of cash, traders, gas station managers, supermarket owners, POS operators, and bank employees continued to take advantage of the general public.
Unwilling to provide his identity, an Akwa Ibom resident described how he leaves his residence as early as 4 am to go to any bank’s ATM without having any money in his account.
He said he would stand in line, and when it came time for him to collect money, he would look for someone in a hurry who would not want to wait in the long line, sell their spot to them for N1,000, and then return to the line. He added that he makes between 5,000 and 10,000 naira daily from the business.
It was learned that traders in important markets throughout the State, including Itam, Akpan Andem, Nyong Essien/Etuk, and others, would sell cash to POS operators for 10% instead of depositing it in the bank, and those POS operators would then charge their potential customers 15% to 20%, depending on the situation.
Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area native Kingsley bemoaned the fact that a POS employee persisted on taking a commission of N22,000 from the N200,000 he withdrew to buy a few things in the market for his father’s funeral on Friday.
He added that despite his efforts to avoid paying the POS attendants’ hefty charge by patiently waiting in the enormous lines at the banks, he was ultimately only able to obtain N5000.
The visibly distraught man said, “God will punish whoever or those that subjected me to this difficulty. That N22, 000 I used in paying for commission, I would have used it to buy up to four cartons of drinks. Only God will judge all these people.”
Another native, Inyene, described how the financial crisis affected her preparations for a wedding, saying that both her family and her fiance’s family had decided to postpone the traditional wedding to a later date in order to see if things would return to normal.
Since most petty traders and fruit vendors do not have bank accounts and those that have do not want to accept transfers due to the difficulty in receiving cash, the negative effects of the cash shortage have also filtered down to them.
Additionally, the lack of money is having a negative impact on overall work productivity, according to ICT expert and entrepreneur Maxwell Akpan, who also revealed that the uncertainty, worries, and concerns caused by the development are having a negative impact on the mental health and general wellbeing of his staff.
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