Residents of Arochukwu have cried out to the Federal Government to address the scarcity of cash at banks across banks in Nigeria. The residents complained that the two commercial banks in Arochukwu could not dispense the new and old naira notes and did not have sufficient amount of the N200 denomination insisting that the situation has increased hardship in the community.
At the two banks in Aro, Union Bank Plc and First Bank of Nigeria Plc, customers converge on their premises on a daily basis and on long queues for hours, while others sit on bricks under the sun as they wait their turn to withdraw when cash is available.
One of the residents, Mazi Chidi who spoke to our correspondent said he had to come to the bank as early as 4:00am to withdraw just N5000 and on unlucky days you’d have to wait till noon to withdraw.
The scarcity of cash have also affected local businesses in the community as business owners have also complained bitterly of low sales during the period. Madam Mercy, a beer parlor operator in Aro gave an account of how she was not able to sell anything for nearly a week due to low customer patronage and how she has lost several amount of money due to bank transfer troubles. “I had to stop accepting transfers because even when the customer has been debited, I don’t get the credit sometimes due to network problems and other times as a result of scam”, She narrated bitterly, “we the ordinary traders are calling on the government to please come to our rescue and quickly resolve this issue so that we can all return to our normal lives”.
A transporter, Mr Anthony lamented the harsh effect of the naira squeeze on transporters. He lamented low passenger patronage as many people rarely travel. In most cases when they want to travel, they make transfers at the park in Arochukwu or Aba, all through the trip and sometimes at the arrival of their destinations, we still dont receive confirmation of the transactions. This situation has made many of our members lose money. At a time, some withdrew their vehicles from plying the routes.
The Federal government and the Central Bank of Nigeria have announced that both the old and new naira notes remain legal tender, still there is restricted flow of cash in Arochukwu and other cities in Nigeria, banks remain crowded as people try to access their funds.
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