Students Face Tough Times Over banks’ Closure

Things have been tough for staff and students of the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBU) in Lapai, Niger State, since the institution reopened in December. The closure of the two banks in the town after they were robbed has brought them hardship. They now travel outside Lapai for cash.

Recent bloody robbery attacks in Lapai, the host community of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBU) in Niger State, have forced two banks to halt their operations in the town. The banks’ closure is visiting hardship on members of the school community, who mostly use the services of the financial institutions.

Like a terror scene in an action-packed movie, masked gunmen, last November, stormed the banks with AK-47 and explosives in broad daylight. They opened fire on the security guards as they gained access into the banks’ premises. The robbers destroyed the banks’ Automated Teller Machines (ATM) ports with dynamites, carting away huge cash.

In the bloody attack, three people, including two policemen, were killed. Their bodies were riddled with bullets by the robbers.

Several other persons were injured in the  stampede resulting from the sporadic gunshots by the robbers.

After the attacks, the two banks immediately shut down their operations, making commercial activities difficult for their customers, who are mainly students and staff of the university.

Although, the school was on break when the robbers struck the banks, students resumed last month to lament the agony they are experiencing in paying their school fees and other compulsory levies through the banks.

Both fresh and returning students are expected to complete registrations online, while they are instructed to pay their fees at the designated branches of the two banks. But conducting the transactions is becoming challenging for students. Some of them had previously deposited their fees at the affected banks.

Some students, who returned to the school early, were disappointed upon learning that the two banks in Lapai had closed down.

The development prompted students to travel to Minna, the state capital, and other far-flung towns, including Paiko, Agaie and Bida, to make their fees payments.

The rush by students to meet up with the fee payment deadline led to the congestion of the branches of the two banks in Bida and Minna.

A final year student, Zainab Yahya, expressed sadness over the development, noting that she would not forget the stress she went through in making fee payment at the Bida branch of one of the banks.

She said: “The reality of the banks’ closure is depressing. I had to travel a long distance to Bida, not minding the attendant danger of such risky journey. The congestion inside the banking hall was frustrating. I spent several hours in the bank to complete a transaction that should be less than 30 minutes. I almost had hypertension, going through such stress. Ordinarily, this could have been easily done in Lapai.”

Kabiru Umar, a Public Administration student, wondered why the banks’ managements did not feel comfortable re-opening their Lapai branches for operations despite the “heavy presence” of the police in the town.

He said: “Should we say that we are safe in Lapai when robbers could cause banks to close operations? How are we so sure if the policemen in Lapai Police Command seem not to be battle-ready to confront criminals? I empathise with the banks for their loss to the robbers, but it is important they resume operations to help reduce the difficulties we are facing paying our school fees.”

A student staying in an off-campus hostel, Maryam Bala Idris, said she resumed early to enable her complete the registration on time only to discover the banks had been shut. She travelled to Minna in articulated truck to pay her school fee.

She complained that the fee payment was slow at a branch of the designated bank, due to network hitches.

“The height of my frustration was when I queued up for three hours to withdraw, before making payment at the counter,” Maryam nagged.

Fateema Al-Hassan, a fresher, had given up before she was helped out by a male relation who stood in the queue for hours.

She said: “The stress was unbearable for students who paid their fees in Bida and Paiko. There were complaints of poor banking network, which delayed completion of cash transactions in the banks.

Some students risked their lives and travelled to other towns to make the fee payment.”

Khadija Marafa, another student, urged the banks’ managements to study security situation in Lapai before re-opening for business. She noted that the school’s failure to provide alternative method of fees payment compounded the stress students are going through.

An official of one of the banks, who spoke to CAMPUSLIFE under the condition of anonymity, said the situation was regrettable, adding that the managements could re-open if there was assurance of security.

Findings by CAMPUSLIFE revealed the banks occasionally load cash into their ATMs to ease the burden of members of the school community. Usually, the cash loaded in the machines cannot go round.

A student, Ibrahim Liman, told our reporter that the crowd at the ATMs discouraged students from using the machines. Some, he said, usually skipped lectures to withdraw money.

Liman said: “The situation always leads to confrontation and physical fight at the ATM gallery, because of some people who shunt on queues.”

Zainab Imam, a Biochemistry student, said the agony of making fee payments at the closed banks was nothing compared to what students experience at the ATMs.

She also said there is usually no security at the ATMs at night, a development preventing students from going to use the machine in order not to be robbed.

Mahmoud Etsu, a 300-Level student, said: “The two ATMs have failed to give students any respite. It is either they are unable to dispense cash or out of service. At other times, you may have to contend with unnecessary delay before completing a transaction.”

Speaking with CAMPUSLIFE, the Students’ Union Government (SUG) president, Ahmad, assured students that steps were being taken to ease students of the stress.

He said: “We are constrained by several factors to get other banks to open branches on the campuses. But, we will diplomatically engage and impress it on the management to promptly do the needful without delay.”

CAMPUSLIFE could not get top management members of the school to speak on the difficulties being experienced by students.

But, a member of the school Senate, who did not want his name in print, said: “Our two campuses have become sites for massive construction. Critical infrastructures are springing up daily. It is an effort to create enabling environment for learning. The ATM headache, among other challenges, is being looked into, with a view to giving students several alternatives.”

In response to the challenge, traders around the school are making brisk profits from students who swipe their ATM cards on POS in exchange for cash. The operators, CAMPUSLIFE gathered, charge students between N50 and N100 per transaction.

When CAMPUSLIFE visited one of the banks last Saturday, construction workers were seen carrying out renovation work at the building. Neither the workers nor their supervisor spoke to our reporter. This may suggest the bank may resume operation soon.