Commercial banks in Ikere-Ekiti, the headquarters of Ikere Council Area of Ekiti State were shut down yesterday following the alleged withdrawal of service by policemen.
THISDAY gathered that ffinancial institutions as well as Point of Terminal(POS) outlets were under lock and key due to fear of being attacked by hoodlums following the withdrawal of policemen.
Policemen have deserted the community following the burning of two police stations and destruction of the Area Command by hoodlums during the #ENDSARS protests.
The Area Command and Divisional police stations in the town were razed with vehicles as well as other vital items in the premises.
Following the absence of policemen in the town, the banks in the town did not open for operation yesterday, forcing many customers who wanted to transact business to go to Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.
The Ekiti State Police Ccommand’s Spokesman, Mr. Sunday Abutu, who confirmed the development, said all the three police stations where its officers and men used to operate، had been set ablaze while operational and personal vehicles in the premises were also vandalised.
According to him, residents had however been told to call certain police hotlines anytime they needed their services, especially during utmost emergencies.
Also reacting to the development, the first class traditional ruler of the town, Oba Adejimi Adu, said the withdrawal of services by the police has exposed the town to security threats, calling on the police to return to the town.
Adu, who expressed dismay at the level of the violence and its attendant destruction that marred the hitherto peaceful protests, pronounced ancestral curses on those behind the wanton destruction of public property.
He invoked curses while meeting with community leaders, youths and others at Ikere Town hall, decreeing sponsors of violence would be punished by Ikere ancestral spirits.
He, however, appealed to the indigenes of the community, especially the youths to eschew violence and embrace peace as no town could have any meaningful development in the midst of violence.
