The rush to beat the Bank Verification Number enrollment
deadline took an ugly turn in Enugu State on Thursday as
customers of First bank PLC (they are so rude in that bank) engaged in fisticuffs with
members of staff of the bank in the banking hall.
The deadline for the BVN enrolment is June 30, 2015.
In Enugu, customers, who have yet to enroll, have been
gripped by fear over the reports that their bank accounts will
be frozen.
The insistence on the BVN by bank cashiers before attending
to customers also heightened such fear.
The development led to unusually large turnout of customers
at banking halls in the Coal City since the beginning of the
week.
However, the matter took a different turn at an old generation
bank, located in the Independence Layout area of Enugu on
Thursday.
Trouble started when security personnel and operations staff
of the financial institution asked some customers to go
outside the banking hall to wait their turn.
About 100 customers, who had converged on the bank since
6am, had trooped into the banking hall when the doors were
opened by 8am.
In a bid to maintain order, the bank officials asked the first 10
among the customers to fill the BVN forms and join about 30
others who did not complete the registration the previous day.
The other customers were told to leave the banking hall, and
wait outside.
But the directive did not go down well with the customers,
who protested, causing commotion in the banking hall.
The situation degenerated to a full blown fight when some
customers violently resisted an attempt by the bank officials
to lead them out of the banking hall.
In the ensuing fracas, a young man engaged an armed riot
policeman, who was attached to the bank, in a physical
combat, while another customer exchanged blows with a bank
worker.
The situation further escalated as some customers, who
wanted to capitalise on the confusion to move to the front of
the queue, were physically resisted by those who were already
there.
Normalcy eventually returned after other bank security
personnel, who were outside, stormed the banking hall to
overpower the violent customers.
The branch manager of the bank later announced that the
bank would open on Saturday to continue the enrollment.
The branch manager, who did not disclose her name,
lamented that the customers waited until the last minute
before coming to enroll for the BVN.