According to reports, the National Association of Nigerian Students on Tuesday disrupted business transactions at the First Bank of Nigeria, Zaria main branch, Kaduna State, over alleged missing registration fees paid by some students.
Over 1,000 students of Federal College of Education, Zaria stormed the premises and claimed that they paid their registration fees at the bank in Sabongari area of the town.
Addressing newsmen shortly after a meeting with the bank’s branch management and the police, the National President of the National Association of Nigerian Students, Aruna Kadiri, said: “Over a period of time, students of FCE have been paying their registration fees at First Bank.
“I don’t know what happened, but according them, over 1,128 students paid their school fees in the bank, but it didn’t reflect in TSA account.
“The students said ‘this is our teller and this is the remittance; let’s resolve this issue but the bank refused’; that’s why I’ve come down here to ask the bank.”
Kadiri lamented that the bank had claimed in a publication that the students did not pay the money and “that’s why we come with the tellers to ask the bank where these tellers were generated”.
He said that the meeting with the management and the police resolved that business should continue.
He said: “However, they have finally accepted.
“We are here since morning and the bank has been shut down since morning.
“Now we have all agreed.
“We have finally agreed that the students should come with their tellers to the bank and the bank should rectify them.”
However, sources at the bank said a principal suspect in the matter, who worked with the bank, resigned his appointment before the alarm blew.
The management of the college, through its Registrar, Dr Jibril Lawal, and the Bursar, Alhaji Mohammed Sani-Uwais, said it had established an investigation committee.
However, the case was reported to the Police Area Command in Zaria.
When contacted, the Head of Corporate Affairs of the bank in Lagos, Babatunde Lasaki, stated that the headquarters was informed of what was going on in its Zaria branch.
He said since the matter was already with the police, the students should have allowed the police to carry out their responsibilities.
Lasaki said: “Remember, everybody has the right to demonstrate but we have asked the branch to be calm and let the police know about it so that they can restore law and order.”
He said the bank sympathised with the affected students and appealed for calm so that the matter could be resolved amicably.
He said: “Both students and the bank branch should cooperate with the police for smooth and amicable resolution of the matter.”
No comments:
Post a Comment