The lingering cash dearth that has ravaged Nigeria for over one month appears to have heightened tension in Owerri, the Imo State capital.
Residents have, by the development, been thrown into untold hardship over the non-dispensation of cash by banks even as old currency notes issued to customers are being rejected by traders, transporters, filling stations, commercial drivers and corporate establishments within the metropolis.
Also, customers have refused to accept the old currency as cash deposits from banks.
It was learnt that those who received old N500 and N1000 notes from the commercial financial institutions have been thrown into confusion as they now run helter-skelter looking for who would accept it as legal tender, even after the apex bank claims it has not given a go-ahead order to issue them to customers.
The situation has forced banks to suspend operations of their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), making customers scramble for cash withdrawal for their day-to-day upkeep, which have been negatively affected as a result of the cashless system.
Findings have shown that market men and women, who operate in Owerri, have resorted to selling bulks of cash they make on daily basis to neighbouring Point of Sale (POS) operators, who in return, re-sell them to the public, who need cash for their businesses.
On Friday, the premises of some banks located along the major areas in Owerri were not flooded by cash seekers, as the present Naira crunch has diverted attention to the service providers (POS).
Efforts made to get more reactions from some banks officials proved abortive as they were mindful of their comments over the current issue of Naira scarcity, but there are indications that they are short of cash as they issued old currency and worn-out N50 notes to customers.
It has been alleged that high-class POS operators and those in higher positions now liaise with bank managers to smuggle out the much-sought-for cash.
A businessman in Owerri, Emeka Nwosu, lamented that he has experienced a huge loss over the CBN policy, saying his business is being crumbled by the cash crunch.
“For some time now, I have been finding it uneasy to meet up with this ugly development. It is adversely affecting my business. I pay N30,000 to withdraw N100,000 from the POS operator,” he said.
It has also been alleged that customers, who throng into the banking halls immediately after the entry doors are opened by the security men, are said to have been fomenting trouble and causing commotion even after being pre-informed of the non-availability of cash by staff.
A staff of one of the old generation banks located along Ikenegbu axis, in Owerri, while addressing the mammoth customers that had besieged its premises for various transactions on Friday, pleaded with them to be patient over the Naira scarcity, as they were yet to hear from the Central Bank as at the time of filing these report.
– Media Report