Banks in Ilesa, Ijebu Jesa and adjoining towns in Osun State hurriedly closed for business on Wednesday after an alarm that some hoodlums were attempting to force their way into one of the commercial banks in the towns.
There was confusion following the report, as many bank customers who were trying to make withdrawals at various Automated Teller Machine points fled, while banks shut their gates and prevented people from going in.
A worker at one of the banks told Newssplashy that the hoodlums were prevented from entering the affected bank by security agents.
The worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said all the banks closed their gates and ordered customers to leave their premises to forestall any security breach.
The robbery scare also forced banks in Osogbo, the state capital, to close almost the same time with their counterparts in Ijesa.
The bank worker said, “We saw some people running and panicking this morning. We were told that some hoodlums were making an attempt to rob a bank. That caused serious panic and we hurriedly closed and asked our customers to also run.
“I heard two gunshots. But I later learnt that the shots were fired by policemen who were responding to the crisis. The area was tense because of the recent attack on some banks in Offa. Nobody wants to die; that was why we left work earlier today. I am speaking to you now from my house.”
A customer of one of the banks in Osogbo, Adewale Olawuyi, told our correspondent that he was disappointed that the bank closed at 1.30pm when he went to make some transactions.
Olawuyi said security men attached to the bank told him that the workers had gone home because of the rumour that robbers were in Ilesa and that another gang would storm banks in Osogbo at the same time.
However, the Commissioner of Police in Osun State, Mr. Fimihan Adeoye, told our correspondent that it was a false alarm.
He said, “There was no robbery attack anywhere in Osun State. Somebody just raised a false alarm to cause panic; there is no problem anywhere at all.”