By Dada Ahmed in Lokoja.
One of the first generation banks in Nigeria,on Tuesday, limited withdrawal of new naira to N5,000 per customer instead of N20,000 stipulated by the Central Bank of Nigeia CBN per day and per customer.
The bank which has two branches in Lokoja, Kogi State capital, also created separate line for the elderly withdrawing money.
A reliable source close the over 120-year-old bank, who asked for veiling of identity, told The Reporters that the management of the bank in Lokoja created the temporary rationing of the money to ease the pain of the customers as the scarcity of the new notes persisted on Tuesday.
“We don’t have enough new naira that can accommodate N 20,000 withdrawal limit permitted by Central Bank of Nigeia,so to ensure that the little cash we have goes round many of our customers, we resorted to limiting the withdrawal to N 5,000 per customer per day
for now.
As for the elderly, the source said:”We notice that many of the elderly,who came to the bank to withdraw new naira notes, cannot withstand the regour of standing for hours on line.
“Since they are not large in number,we decided to separate them from the young and agile youths on line and create a line for them so that they don’t waste time before cashing their money.
“We are also trying to guard against unpalable development, especially in the case of the elderly, in the course of transacting business with our bank.”
Our Correspondent who visited another branch of the bank ,on Murtala Mohammed road, Lokoja reports that the branch did not dispense new naira notes as at about 11 p m while few customers seen within ATM looked tired and despodent.
At Jaiz and other banks our Correspondent visited,mammoth crowd of customers were sighted waiting to withdraw the new naira.
Meanwhile, operators of Point of Sale, POS have continued to feed fat on helpless and dejected customers who patronise them as the last resort.
Finding by our Correspondent revealed that, most POS operators in Lokoja charged as high as N500 per N5,000 withdrawal or more.
The Reporters recalls that three days ago,the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeia,CBN, Mr Godwin Emefiele, announced the extension of the deadline from January 31 to February 10 for the old to cease from a legal tender in the country.
