Banks and customers in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, are now in distress following shutdown action by the Rivers State Advertisement and Signage Agency (RISA).
The agency moved into action all of Monday, shutting down banks and a telecom company (Glo). The banks affected include Diamond, Unity and GTBank all on Azikiwe Road, close to the Government House.
The agency chose to lock up the businesses for allegedly failing to pay up for billboards that served as advertisement in the city. RISA stormed the offices, locked the doors, and thereby imprisoning the multitude of customers in the banking halls while stopping new ones from gaining entry.
The action caused commotion as the detained customers cried out and accused the state governor of traumatising the masses that voted for the rulers. They shouted from behind bars that they as customers should have been spared the action.
The acting managing director of RISA, Chukwudi Dimkpa, told newsmen that the action was not only legitimate but also had the approval of the state governor, Nyesom Wike. He said the agency had given adequate notice.
The manager of Unity Bank however countered that the bankers had a meeting with the governor who he said ordered that they should not pay any demand notice until taxes were harmonized in the state.
Reacting, a legal expert, Richard Wokocha from the Public Law Unit of the University of Science and Technology (UST) Law Department said if shut down was part of the RISA law, then they were right to shut them down, but said it was not a usual penalty.
He told newsmen that what the law provides often is destruction of the billboards and fine to the offending companies. He said a suit was more civilized.
