Bank customers in panic withdrawals

By Jimoh Ahmed & Saheed Ibrahim
|
Despite the rise in the number of coronavirus victims in Ondo State, there has been continuous crowd of customers in banks across the state.

When The Hope visited some of the banks in the three senatorial districts in the state crowds of customers were seen at various banks.

It was gathered that the customers were in panic withdrawals for their upkeep as they anticipated possible total lockdown by the state government as the number of COVID-19 infected people continued to increase in the Sunshine state.

It was also gathered that as the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) were besieged by customers, so also were huge number of people rushing into the banking halls to transact business.

Speaking with The Hope in Akure, a customer at a new generation bank, Mr Oloyede Oluywole told The Hope that he had no ATM card but needed to withdraw some cash.

Mr Oloyede, who was number 325 on the waiting list said that he had been waiting for three hours as only ten customers were allowed to go into the bank hall at a time and there was no preferential treatment.

At one of the old generation banks at Oja Oba in Akure, Mrs Roseline Adegboyega, a customer said she needed to withdraw some money  because there was the need to buy food items.

The story was not different in both the Southern and Northern Senatorial Districts of the state, where the few commercial banks operating in the areas were overwhelmed by customers.

A customer from Ajowa Akoko,  Alhaji Abu Oloruntoba said banks were justified in reducing crowd in their banking halls to avoid unusual crowd as government and health experts have warned against overcrowding in the banking premises in order to ensure social distancing  to curb the spread of the novel virus.

Oloruntoba however appealed to the banks managers to speed up their operations to ensure that many customers were attended to.

 He also called on the people to think of their safety first by not engaging in anything that would further spread the virus.

Another customer in Ikare Akoko, Chief (Mrs) Adebunmi Oshadahun lamented the agony  bank customers were passing through to make withdrawals.

Oshadahun appealed to the banks to give elderly people, pregnant women and nursing mothers and people living with disabilities preference based on their conditions.

She told the people that corona virus is real as many people , especially,  rural dwellers have not been taking government directives on the pandemic serious since they still believe it does not exist.

Oshadahun appealed to the people to use nose masks. wash their hands regularly and observe all other government directives.