World enews: Imo Residents Stranded As Government Shuts Banks Over IPOB’s Sit-at-Home Order

The Imo State Government has ordered the closure of all the banks on Bank Road in Owerri, the state capital leaving hundreds of bank customers stranded on Tuesday morning.

According to Punch, officials of the state government shut the banks as of 9am as hundreds of banks customers waited endlessly at various banks.

Some of the affected banks that were sealed by the state government were Access, Polaris, First Bank, Eco Bank, and United Bank for Africa.

It was reported that customised ribbons were used by the state government officials in sealing the various banks as early as 7am.

Some of the staff of the banks disclosed that the operatives of Owerri Capital Development Authority sealed the banks.

It was gathered that the banks closed were those that failed to open on Monday, a day that states in the South-East region observed the sit-at-home in protest of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra who is being tried at the Federal High court in Abuja by the Nigerian Government.

However, some government officials said that the banks were sealed because of building the approval plans.

Both the state commissioner for Information and strategy, Declan Emelumba, and the General Manager of OCDA, Innocent Ikapmezie, did not respond to multiple calls put to their telephones by to confirm the reason behind the actions.

They had neither return the calls nor reply to text messages as of the time of filing this report.