Soldiers pull rank, shunt queue to cash naira

At 10:20 am on Thursday, over 55 people queued at a Keystone Bank Automated Teller Machine (ATM) in Apapa.

The queue wouldn’t move much because military officers shunted it in a race to get the new naira notes.

As the controversial February 10 deadline to phase out the old 1000, 500 and 200 naira notes was elapsing, only one of the three banks at the Point Road-Liverpool Roundabout, Apapa – Keystone Bank- was dispensing money.

For every five civilians withdrawing at the ATM, one uniformed soldier gets a chance to use the machine.

The military men came in batches, quietly heading to the ATM without looking at the civilians who had been on the queue for hours. The officers prolonged the queue as they invited more of their members.

While the crowd at the ATM was still getting used to the soldiers commandeering the machine, an elderly man dressed in long ‘buba’ and ‘sokoto’, claiming to be a staffer of the bank, decided to withdraw three times in a row, slowing down the queue. Out of frustration, a lady, who looks to be in her mid-20s, dressed in a red sleeveless top and tight blue jeans, pulled his hands when he attempted to withdraw for the fourth time.

“What is wrong with you? Do you not have mercy on us,” she said.

What ensued thereafter was a heated argument between the buba-wearing ‘bank staffer’ and the lady in red.

Eventually, two navy officers, five other men from the queue and the lady in red dragged the ‘inconsiderate buba-wearing ‘bank staffer’ out of the ATM booth. Along with expletives from the crowd waiting for their turn, he left the scene, brandishing new 1000 naira notes in his hand.

The disruption scattered the queue as people raced to the cash dispenser worried that the cash may soon finish.

Some minutes later, a middle-aged woman produced a piece of paper to create a log of some sort in an attempt to reduce the rowdiness. The bank’s security officials had tried to no avail. The log worked well until more soldiers appeared, shunting the queue, as the crowd grumbled.

Unable to question the military men, the crowd transferred aggression among themselves. They shouted, insulted and pulled at one another.

An infuriated man who obviously witnessed the EndSars protest began reminiscing. In what was at best a whisper, he recounted his experience about how soldiers treated Nigerians at Lekki Toll Gate.

“When it comes to the army, just respect yourself or they will just shoot you,” he said.

The crowd at the ATM gallery only expressed their displeasure at the officers’ shunting with facial expression.

“When you finally get to the ATM, you can only withdraw N5000 if you don’t own a Keystone Bank account. But if you do, you can withdraw N10,000,” said a middle-aged man who successfully got cash after queuing since 7:45 am.

The queues stretched as more officers arrived. It is hard to interpret the look on their faces as they look down at the queuing crowd. Could it be guilt?

“At least the ATM machine is dispensing new notes rather than old notes,” a lady who successfully got cash said, consoling herself and encouraging others still waiting.

By 11:08am, the ATM stopped dispensing money. The soldiers left. About 10 minutes after they left, the people waiting under the scorching sun kept their position in disbelief. How could cash finish after all the waiting?

About 30 minutes later, the queue cleared up. To be very certain, a few more people slotted their cards into the machine. “Temporarily unable to dispense cash,” the ATM flashed.

With palpable sadness, the folks trotted away disappointed. They are now stuck with Point of Sale (PoS) operators who charge N200 for N1000 of the old naira notes.

Last week, pandemonium broke out at the University of Benin (UNIBEN), Edo State, as military personnel allegedly invaded the school, vandalised vehicles and attacked some officials of the institution.

The incident was said to have its root from a fracas the previous day between students of UNIBEN who reportedly resisted some soldiers who shunted queues at an ATM sited on campus.

The soldiers, it was reported, got infuriated after they suspected that a female student was trying to make a video of the scene.

“Some students were at the ATM stand, trying to make transactions. Due to the cash scarcity, there were several queues at the cash point. Some military personnel came inside the school premises, met the students on the queues and told them to leave because they wanted to withdraw.

“It wasn’t done in a friendly manner or appealing manner. Afterwards, they saw a girl with her phone and felt she was making videos, they took the phone and the situation resulted in an argument”, a source had told our reporter.