Customers face hardship.
By Oladimeji Abitogun.
Customers who were at the Alagbaka , Akure, Branch of Stanbic IBTC Bank were unattended to for two successive days in a roll . The reason(s) for the action of the Management of the bank were initially shrouded in mystery.
But facts have now emerged that the Computer Room within the bank was destroyed by fire in the early hours of Tuesday November 19, 2019.
Sharpedgenews learnt that employees of the bank got to the premises located in the 3-storey Great Nigeria Insurance Company House,Alagbaka,Akure,Ondo State, only to discover that the IT facilities had been totally burnt. Cause of the inferno still unknown. Case as not been reported to the police .Speculation rise on possible power surge or flagrant sabotage to hide possible fraud.
Great Nigeria Insurance Company which owns the building is a member of the Oodua Conglomerate belonging to South-Western States of Ondo, Oyo, Ogun, Osun and Ekiti.
Stanbic IBTC Bank started its Akure operations from the premises in July 1996 through its predecessor, the then Chartered Bank Ltd., which initially transformed into IBTC Chartered Bank in a merger deal.
A mysterious fire at another facility at the Trade Fair Complex, Akure, Ondo State, had destroyed one of the buildings owned by the same Oodua Group. The cause of the fire incident was never disclosed or clarified. However, a paint manufacturing company housed at the facility was razed.
Customers who were at the Stanbic IBTC Bank could not get a true picture of what was wrong as they could not gain access in order to make cash deposits or transact other routine deals .The bank was under lock and keys.
Sharpedgenews contacted the Ondo State police command. Speaking on the phone, the police Public Relations officer (PPRO), Mr Femi Joseph said that the incident had not been lodged with the Command ,he promised to do his findings and get back with the Reporter .
A correspondent of Sharpedgenews was able to detect that some repair works were going on within the premises. It was noticed that heavy duty batteries which usually supported the operations of IT Department were carefully packed and stored outside. The batteries were moved from the Computer Room in order to make room for renovations and repairs.
Stanbic IBTC Bank has a pattern of keeping secret its calamities and losses. When the bank was attacked and robbed in December 2009 at the same Akure Branch, the management kept mum. Its losses could have run into millions of Naira, but it maintain an “all-is-well’ poise.
The non-transparent approach to dealing with its local customers also precipitates a situation in which, no local contractor is engaged in the renovation works at Akure.
The bank gives no patronage to local media in terms of advertising. Its hiring policy follows the same pattern, all employments are from its Headquarters and no consideration is given to potential job seekers in the host community. Stanbic IBTC Bank often sacks its performing employees with impunity. “No staff can be too sure of when he or she would be asked to go”, confided one such employee who was thrown into the unemployment market over six years ago. The sacked official purportedly committed no crime.
The bank has again sacked another set of employees about three weeks ago. They were never given permanent jobs. To make their exit an easy one, they were always kept and engaged as contract staff.