The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has put precautionary measures in place against future attacks on commercial banks in Benue State.
The development followed the attack on some banks in Otukpo town, Benue State, by armed robbers on Friday, October 20, 2023.
The CBN took the measures at an emergency meeting with the management of the affected banks in Makurdi, the Benue State capital.
In a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, the CBN, among other decisions, directed that “all banks and her branches across the state with immediate effect commence their business operations from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday to Friday, till January 31, 2024, when a review of the security situation will be carried out at the Bankers Committee for amendment accordingly”.
“Sequel to the unfortunate attack on four (four) banks (UBA, First Bank, Zenith, Access Bank, and the Police Station in Otukpo) on October 20, 2023, where banks’ staff and customers, as well as the Police DPO and officers, were killed. Due to additional security threats members have received and the state’s obvious worsening insecurity situation, the Bankers Committee held an emergency meeting today and unanimously adopted the following resolutions:
The Apex has directed that a six-man delegation (CBN BC, UBA, Polaris, Zenith, Sterling, Unity, and First Bank Managers) immediately pay a visit to the commissioner of police to condole with him for the loss of his men and seek collaboration with the police for more security of the banks through the deployment of her APC and a special patrol car around the banking premises in the state. The six-man committee was also mandated to visit the Executive Governor to seek his reassurance of the security of the banks in the state and to continue their business operations within the state.
The apex bank said, “All banks in the state observed a minute of silence in their bank premises across the state by 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, October 24, 2023, with their staff and customers in honour of the bank staff, customers, and police officers that lost their lives in the Otukpo Bank robbery attack.
The apex bank instructed that all banks and their branches across the state, with immediate effect, commence their business operations from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday to Friday, until January 31st, 2024, when a review of the security situation will be carried out at the Bankers Committee for amendment accordingly.
The apex cautioned, “All bank staff across the state are hereby mandated to dress down and be more security conscious in their environment, especially during working hours during these Ember Months until January 31st, 2024.
The apex mandated that the armoured personnel carrier (APC) support be hereby increased to N200, 000.00 (two hundred thousand naira) for DMB’s, while CBN is increased to N500, 000.00 (five hundred thousand Naira), respectively. Each bank is mandated to make her payment on or before October 27th, 2023.
