BANKS IN OMOKU ARE STEALING FROM US, INDIGENES CRY.

Rivers State

08:00am

By Ubamara Ezenobi

Indigenes of Omoku town in Onelga local government, Rivers State, are lamenting the sudden disappearance of huge amounts of money from their bank accounts.

The joy of every mother is that she enjoys the fruits of her labour in her children. So when Mrs Diobi received a credit alert from her son on the first day of January, 2021, she was no doubt elated. Her elation turned to shock, however, when she received a debit alert of forty thousand naira (N40,000) almost as soon as the initial alert of fifty thousand naira came in.

Mrs Diobi's story is not unique. I interviewed four other individuals who had similar experiences. According to them, the customer care personnel at the bank advised them to check within their households for people who might have used their debit card, such as their children. If they had no children, they were asked to check back after five working days. If they checked back after five working days, they were asked to check back after seven working days. The cycle would usually continue until the wearied customers accepted their monies as gone forever. Among the five indigenes interviewed, none have gotten their money back till date.

A woman identified as Mrs Beauty told me that she felt 'Yahoo boys' had infiltrated the banks in Omoku. Affected persons have confirmed this has been going on for years and has also affected other people with whom they are acquainted.

Investigations are underway to find out the most likely cause(s) of the alleged thefts.

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