The management of Access Bank Plc has sympathised with #EndSARS protesters for freezing their accounts, this is following an online campaign for customers to boycott bank.
Recall that Access Bank had frozen accounts of about eight persons suspected to be involved in the #EndSARS campaign.
It was however gathered that the bank acted based on the orders of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
According to reports, the bank’s decision to freeze the customers accounts was taken nearly two weeks before the apex bank obtained a court order to do so.
This action subsequently put the bank in a bad light with many social media influencers calling on Nigerians to boycott the bank.
They chided Access Bank for allegedly showing very low level of professionalism in dealing with the issue, like Stanbic IBTC, whose founder, Atedo Peterside, had openly refused to freeze the account of any person without a valid court order.
But Access Bank however, in a statement on Friday, explained that as a financial institution, it was bound by the regulations of the apex bank, but added that it was looking forward to unfreezing the accounts.
“We want to express our sympathy for the inconvenience that eight of our customers are going through due to the restrictions on their accounts as mandated by a federal court order. We are eager for this to be resolved as soon as possible,” the statement said.
“It is common knowledge that we and the entire banking industry are regulated entities and therefore operate under the authority of our regulators and law enforcement agencies. As such we are compelled to comply with regulatory directives.
“While acknowledging the concern of all well-meaning parties, we urge that enquiries and views be channeled to the relevant regulatory and judicial agencies where the matter is receiving attention.
“It is therefore surprising that some individuals still choose to target Access Bank in a negative manner despite not being the source of the action,” it said.
