Following a violent protest that rocked the Sagamu Local Government Area of Ogun State recently where public buildings were attacked and some others razed, commercial banks in the town have been shut down. IFEDAYO OGUNYEMI reports on the travails of residents and those in neighbouring communities who have been unable to carry out transactions in their banks.
For 48 days now, no commercial bank has opened its doors to customers in the Sagamu Local Government Area of Ogun State. The situation arose as a result of the violent protest by young persons in the town that led to the destruction of offices, vehicles and other equipment that belong to commercial banks in the town.
Around 6:00 a.m. on Monday, February 20, 2023, scores of protesters trooped to the streets to protest the scarcity of naira notes and exorbitant commissions charged by Point of Sales vendors in the wake of the mopping up of old N200, N500 and N1,000 and in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) naira redesign policy.
While some said the protest started at Robert Street close to the palace of the Ewusi of Makun, others said the protest started at the front of the palace of Akarigbo of Remoland. The protesters sang solidarity songs, mounted roadblocks, set bonfires on the road and marched past about 11 offices of commercial banks located on both sides of Akarigbo Road towards the Sabo area of the town.
The commercial banks on both sides of the road leading to Sabo are First Bank, Keystone, FCMB, Union, Zenith, Access, Wema, GTCO, Stanbic IBTC, Polaris, Sterling and UBA.
Recalling what transpired on that fateful day, a security guard at First Bank, who identified himself as Abinuwaye, told Sunday Tribune that although the protesters were angry, they listened to reason when they first came to the bank located at the Ijokun area of Akarigbo Road. It was during their second visit they unleashed mayhem around the bank.
“They passed by us first on their way to Sabo and we begged them before they left us alone,” Abinuwaye recounted. “We were later alerted that the protesters had already attacked and set fire to about four banks – GTCO, Polaris, Sterling and Zenith Banks. They also torched a section of Access Bank too.”
As of that time, Abinuwaye and other security officers at the bank had urged the bank workers to leave the premises. He disclosed that “the person who alerted me even said I should run away but I couldn’t leave my duty post.
“We tried to calm them again but they forced down the gate. They were unable to enter the bank hall. They also destroyed a marketing car, a bullion van and a Hilux van. The glasses surrounding the security room were destroyed.
“The policemen were with us but they couldn’t shoot. It didn’t look right. They felt it could degenerate into something far worse. They only applied their senses,” he added.
During the protest, almost all the commercial banks were either attacked or razed by the protesters. The two microfinance banks in the town – E-Soe Microfinance Bank and Sagamu Microfinance Bank – were left untouched. In the banks attacked, the hoodlums also carted away other properties including computer systems, chairs, fire extinguishers ATM card printing machines among others.
“I doubt they left any ATM in Sagamu untouched except that of Sagamu Microfinance Bank. All the six ATMs inside and outside our premises were destroyed,” Abinuwaye added.
When done with the banks in an operation that lasted hours, they proceeded to the office of the Ibadan Electric Distribution Company (IBEDC) located on Hospital Road and the Sagamu Local Government Secretariat off Aiyepe Road where furniture and other property were burnt. The mace of the legislative council was also reportedly carted away as council workers ran for dear lives.
The wanton destruction left in the wake of the protest has been condemned by stakeholders including the Akarigbo of Remo land, Oba Babatunde Ajayi.
Lending his voice to the condemnation was a youth leader in the town, Kayode Segun-Okeowo, who described the act as a “motivated destruction and not a protest,” adding that “it is motivated to cause destruction” while speaking with pressmen on the day of the attack.
Later that day and a few days after, operatives of the Ogun State Police Command succeeded in arresting 27 suspects in connection with the arson, vandalism of corporate and public buildings.
During an on-the-spot assessment of the incident the following day, Governor Dapo Abiodun described the level of destruction of properties as shocking and never seen in the history of the town.
“The protest is beyond naira redesigning or swapping policy. We heard from many eyewitnesses’, we also believe from what we have seen today and this is most unfortunate particularly, as elections are a few days away,” he added.
Since the incident, to carry out banking and financial transactions involving commercial banks have become a herculean task, particularly at the time when unstable networks have worsened transactions on mobile banking applications nationwide.
Residents now travel between 16 and 84 kilometres to nearby towns, cities and states including Iperu, Ijebu-Ode, Mosinmi, Ikorodu, Abeokuta, Mowe, Lagos and Ibadan to get access to cash or make transactions inside the bank.
Speaking on the effect on the closure of banks, a student who resides in the town, Miss Omobolanle Ajiboye, said businesses are not moving as they should, adding: “We don’t have access to money, and with that, how do we get food to eat? Things have really been difficult.
“Imagine if people pay high commissions on POS transactions and you now have a town that doesn’t have banks to ease the stress of that. It has really been bad,” Ajiboye added.
Her claim was corroborated by a soft drinks seller, Mrs Toyin Oladipupo, who has made four trips to different towns to get access to cash. Those trips to the banks have cost her hours, long wait in queues and victimisation for being a Sagamu resident.
Oladipupo said: “If we don’t get to Abeokuta or Ijebu-Ode, we can’t see cash to trade with. In Ijebu-Ode, they sent us back when they learnt we are from Sagamu. The trick is not letting them know you are from Sagamu. I have been to Ijebu-Ode twice, Abeokuta and Redemption Camp once each and believe me, the queue at those places are terrible.
“To go to Ijebu-Ode and back, you’ll spend about N1,000, Abeokuta is N1,600, Redemption Camp is also N1,000 and most times, we come back late in the evening after leaving Sagamu around 6:00 a.m. On those days, I couldn’t open my shop for business because there was nobody to leave the shop for.”
While condemning the act of the hoodlums, a building contractor, who identified himself as Bunmi, said the actions of the hoodlums paralysed the Sagamu economy because traders, artisans and everyone were affected, noting that the perpetrators didn’t think it through, “because if they did, they wouldn’t have done this. If it were a peaceful demonstration, it would have been great. The destruction still baffles everyone.”
He added that “as a building contractor, to see cash to give out to the workers I engage has been difficult. We source cash from POS at the rate of 20 per cent. Most of the labourers don’t have accounts in banks to transfer to. And those who do will clearly tell you they don’t want it because of POS charges. We pray that such an occurrence doesn’t happen again.”
He cited the victimisation of innocent Sagamu residents as one of the reasons he hasn’t travelled to other locations in search of cash.
“Those who did come home with horrifying details. They say whenever bank workers know or hear that they are from Sagamu, they either send them back or delay them unnecessarily as punishment for what happened to Sagamu banks. And I can’t put myself through that stress even though I have lost a couple of projects because of the lack of money to go round,” Bunmi added.
As of today, no one knows when banks will reopen for business in the town. Sunday Tribune thereafter went round town to ascertain the rumours of reopening of some banks in some temporary locations.
A woman who was identified as a top official of The First Bank branch declined to comment on the bank’s reopening plans, saying: “I can’t talk to you because it’s been over a month since the incident happened. We are not working and I’m going home.”
Sunday Tribune also met the bank manager at the Zenith Bank branch while he was monitoring the ongoing repairs, and rehabilitation of the office. He also declined to comment on the record but directed Sunday Tribune to meet with representatives of the Bankers Forum in the town for official comments.
A representative of the Bankers Forum in Sagamu whom Sunday Tribune met at Sabo area of the town also declined to speak to the plans of the commercial banks towards reopening.
“I can’t even speak to you because we haven’t had a general meeting recently. Unless there’s a general meeting where issues are discussed, the forum can’t speak to you. I can’t even speak to you about the impact. You may see it as a biased opinion because I’m a stakeholder. I’ll advise that you talk to the people,” he told Sunday Tribune.
When approached on measures taken by elders and royal fathers in the town towards the reopening of the commercial banks, the Chief of Staff to Akarigbo, Alhaji Liasu Abiodun Aina, told Sunday Tribune that Oba Ajayi had mandated the Remo Growth and Development Foundation (RemoGDF) to spearhead consultations with the banks.
At the Iperu office of the foundation, the acting General Manager of RemoGDF, Prince Victor Soile, said that some of the banks may come back earlier than others because the levels of damage done to thier facilities vary.
“Like First Bank and FCMB, the damage is less and not compounded by fire. I feel the damages done to the banks in Sabo is worse where they set some of the branches on fire,” Soile said.
He also disclosed that “some of those arrested were said to be ransacking the banks when policemen arrived. A pregnant woman was also arrested but it is left for the police to properly do their investigation to ascertain if those arrested are truly the perpetrators of that horrible destruction.”
While confirming that there have been meetings with representatives of RemoGDF and the affected banks, he referred Sunday Tribune to the foundation’s Head of Media and Publicity, Prince Abiola Ogundeko, for up-to-date information and clarification.
In his Ipara home, Ogundeko said the meetings were held to give the management of the banks a “royal assurance” that such an incident will not occur again in the town.
He described Sagamu as a clearing hub for the whole of Remo land, adding that the pause on banking services does not affect Sagamu alone but also all the 33 towns that make up Remo land.
“Whenever there’s a problem in Sagamu, it affects other towns that make up Remo land. People come from Ikenne, Ode-Remo, Ipara, Ogijo, Ode-Lemo to transact business. Before you transact bank-related business now, you have to go to Ibadan, Abeokuta, Lagos among others,” he said.
He also disclosed that the Akarigbo had earlier summoned “an all-powerful meeting that bordered on community development and security” before sending emissaries to the headquarters of the banks.
“As a paramount ruler, he will not open his eyes and allow the pause on banking activities in Sagamu to continue like this. It affects majorly the micro and small-scale enterprises such as hairdressers, vulcanisers, among others,. and when they cannot go to banks, it will affect a lot of things.. And you know what the POS agents charge them. That is why his emissaries are meeting with the leadership of the banks. They have been to five of the affected banks and by the end of this week, they will visit the headquarters of the three other banks.
“What he has been doing is to give the boards of directors of the banks an assurance that such an incident will not repeat itself and to provide support. The summary is that Akarigbo is not really happy with what happened. And he has taken the bull by the horns by making sure that banking activities resume as soon as possible,” he said.
When asked if discussions at any of the meetings put a time-frame to the resumption of banking services in the town, Ogundeko said: “The representatives of Akarigbo have met with people from Access Bank, Zenith Bank, Sterling Bank, Stanbic IBTC and Wema Bank. The remaining three are First Bank, GTCO and FCMB.
“The bank that was last visited, Stanbic IBTC gave them assurance that they will resume operations very soon but they have to go through an internal process of resumption of business including making sure that the structure and security architecture is stronger than it used to be.
“All these require adequate funding. They gave us an assurance that they won’t shut down the branch but they asked us for time to finalise the internal process. I think Zenith Bank or Wema Bank on the other hand has started the internal process of reopening but in fairness to them, in a couple of months, they will bounce back.”
Speaking on the arrest of 27 persons in connection to the incident, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ogun State Command, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said they have been charged to court.
“I think it is a premeditated crime and a lot of people who were arrested have been charged to court, 27 of them. Some of them were arrested inside Zenith Bank while they were looting it.
“The community has also learnt lessons from the incident. Because if you say you’re protesting the unavailability of cash, is the best thing to destroy all the banks in the town? Does it make sense?” he queried.
When asked if a pregnant woman was among the arrested suspects and the likelihood of securing convictions, he said: “We have women among them. Some were arrested inside the bank and some later in their houses with the looted bank items some days after.”
On measures put in place to forestall a reoccurrence, Oyeyemi said: “That reoccurence is not something that anybody would think about in the first instance. We have embarked on an enlightenment campaign in all the communities. We believed that if the people of the community properly guide their wards, such things are not supposed to happen.
“As of now, no bank is operating in Sagamu. They travel to Ijebu-Ode, Abeokuta and Ilishan for that now and it’s not too good for them.”
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