Gunmen invade police station and bank in Bauchi

Gunmen hurled explosives and fired at a police station and a nearby bank in Bauchi town Monday in another of daily attacks blamed on Islamist sect Boko Haram, witnesses said.

The attack in Jama’are, a traditional emirate and town in the north of Bauchi state, occurred 24 hours after a similar assault in another northern Nigerian town in which three policemen were killed.

Residents said a large number of gunmen were involved in the attack, but were unclear about casualties.

“They arrived in cars and headed straight to the police station and a nearby bank, shooting and throwing explosives,” said Tijjani Khalifa by phone from the town.

He said residents quickly moved indoors on hearing the sound of the explosions and gunshots.

“We don’t know if there are casualties because everybody is at home,” said another resident Muktar Dan-Abba.

Members of Boko Haram are thought to rob banks to fund their activities.

No officials were immediately available for comment.

Bauchi borders and lies to the north of Plateau, whose capital Jos was targeted by a suicide bomber on a church during Sunday service.

The Jos attack killed three people while reprisal riots that followed the attack left another three dead.

Boko Haram claimed to have been behind the church attack where a suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden car and blew it up metres away from a church hall.

Violence blamed on the group, whose goals remain largely unclear, has since mid-2009 claimed more than 1,000 lives, including more than 300 this year alone, according to AFP and rights groups.

The sect has previously said it wants to create an Islamic state in Nigeria’s deeply impoverished north.

Three police corporals were killed Sunday night and two other policemen wounded when gunment threw explosives and opened fire on a police station in Shuwa village of Adamawa state, northern Nigeria, state police commissioner Adelere Chinaba said.

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Drama in bank as woman bathes cashier with faeces

A drama occurred at one of the first generation banks in Akure, Ondo State capital, when a lady, simply identified as Sade, bathed a cashier (names withheld) with faeces inside the banking hall for allegedly snatching her husband.

Customers and fellow bankers took to their heels as the assailant rained abuses after pouring the smelly substance on the lady banker.

The ugly incident, which occurred on Friday, was quickly brought under control by security operatives attached to the bank.

Sade, who pretended to be one of the customers, was said to have arrived the bank with a polythene bag and approached the cashier only to pour its contents on her.

The stench took over the banking hall just as all the customers ran to the door to escape the odour.

Sunday Vanguard gathered that the cashier was equally assaulted by the lady before she was bundled out by the bank guards.

The management of the bank, after the ugly incident, arranged for the cashier to bath and change her clothes within the bank premises.

One of the bankers told newsmen: “All of us, including my colleague who was assaulted, were busy attending to customers when the young lady came in and started raining abusive words on the victim, in an embarrassing way. She called her unprintable names and accused her of snatching her husband.

“We were shocked and we tried to shout her down only for her to open a polythene bag she carried, thinking that she wanted to make some deposit but what she brought out shocked everybody.

“She removed the bag containing the terribly smelly faeces which she instantly poured on her victim”.

The police public relations officer at the Ondo State Police Command, Mr. Aremu Adeniran, said the suspect had been arrested and detained by the police.

Adeniran, said, “The incident happened around noon on Friday and the suspect, who is already with us, came to Akure from Owo with a can containing smelly faeces which she poured on the banker.

“She will be charged to court after necessary investigations had been concluded on the case”.

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Workers Shut Down Oceanic Bank Head Quarters In Lagos

Activities at Oceanic Bank Headquarters and all its branches in Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria were paralysed Friday following the decision of the new owner of the bank, Ecobank to pay the disengaged staff paltry sum of money as severance package.

The headquarters of Oceanic Bank on Ozumba Mbadiwe Street, Victoria Island, was shut following protest by disengaged staff rejecting the severance money offered them by the bank.

NEWSMEN gathered that hundreds of staff of the former Oceanic Bank, which were recruited by Oceanic Security have been laid off.

Policemen took over the gate of the Oceanic Bank Headquarters as staff protested the proposed poor severance package Ecobank intends to pay them.

It was gathered that the bank wanted to pay the disengaged staff N40, 000 per annum across board to disengaged staff recruited by Oceanic Security, a subsidiary of Oceanic Bank.

What this means is that workers who have spent eight years working for the former Oceanic Bank will take home a paltry N320, 000 for all the years spent working for the bank.

The workers said they would only agree to be disengaged if adequate package was paid them, while rejecting what they called peanut offered by the bank to them.

Also, as at this morning, almost all Oceanic Bank branches were shut to workers and customers as customers could not withdraw or deposit any money as a result of the crisis rocking the bank.

The Oceanic Bank branches at Secretariat, Alausa; Amuwo-Odofin and others were shut, while security officers turned customers back.

A staff of the bank, who craved anonymity, said activities had been completely paralysed in all branches of the bank, including the headquarters taken over by policemen.

He said the management of the new bank offered to pay the workers a paltry amount of money as severance allowance, saying that it was completely unacceptable.

According to him, Oceanic Bank had about 300 branches and that staff recruited by Oceanic Security in most of the branches had been laid off, while the new owner had brought in its own staff to occupy the positions of the disengaged workers.

“Right now, in all the branches, things have collapsed. There is no network in all the branches right now and work is not going on,” he said.

Another staff of the bank, who also craved anonymity, told NEWSMEN that the severance package proposed by the new owner of the bank was too small, saying that those laid off could be in thousands.

When contacted, the Corporate Affairs Manager of Ecobank, Michael Joseph said he could not speak for the Managing Director, saying that the bank would soon issue a press statement on the matter.

There are fears that more workers will lose their jobs in the wake of banking reforms and mergers.

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Access Bank Sacks 1, 500 staff of Intercontinental Bank

As a result of the completion of the acquisition of Intercontinental Bank Plc by Access Bank Plc, Access Bank Plc yesterday January 27th terminated the employment of 1, 500 employees of Intercontinental Bank and also shut down some branches of Intercontinental Bank nationwide for 'non-performance'.

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Early Morning Tragedy: Bank Staff Shot Dead In Lagos

Suspected armed robbers this morning shot dead a driver working at Skye Bank Plc in his car at Olopomeji area of Iyana Oworonsoki, Lagos State, South West Nigeria.



The deceased identified through his identity card as Kamorudeen Akani was reportedly shot dead around 6.30 a.m. today while going to work.

Witnesses said two women with the deceased in the Toyota Camry car with registration number LE NR 307 KJA at the time of the attack were unhurt

The women, it was learnt, were too shocked to comment on the killing of the driver.

Officials of the Rapid Response Squad, RRS were at the scene of the incident but the suspects had escaped.

A woman at the scene, who identified herself as Iya Lati described the incident as shocking, saying the deceased was shot several times in the chest, leaving him in a pool of blood.

The identity card found on him revealed that he lived at 8, Abosede Street, Giwa/Okearo, Ogun State but when sources got there, neighbours said he no longer lived there and that he had packed to another house.

A visit to 2 Oduduwa Street, Oke Aro where he packed to revealed that he was living alone. A neighbour disclosed that he was a former mechanic before he decided to seek employment in the bank.

“He was from Abeokuta, Ogun State and had three brothers living in Lagos. He was a nice fellow, very generous to people. I will miss him,” a neighbour who pleaded anonymity said.

At the headquarters of the bank at Falomo, Head, General Services Department of the bank who refused to disclosed his name said: “We are going to do what we can to give him a befitting burial.

“We will do something but it will not be disclosed.

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