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Outrage broke out across the country on Wednesday when it was reported that Ecobank had sacked about 900 workers nationwide in one week. The reports said about 800 tellers were sacked last Friday while another 100 were shown the exit door on Tuesday.
Members of the National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE) on Thursday morning picketed the headquarters of the bank on Ahmadu Bello way, Victoria Island in Lagos over alleged non-payment of severance allowance to the affected workers.
But the bank has come out to state that it has not sacked any of its staff.
The bank said in a statement on Wednesday it only decided not to renew the contract of its third-party recruitment agencies which expired recently “and as such, returned this category of personnel back to the agencies who are their employers.”
It said: “As a demonstration of the bank’s concern and compassion for the affected personnel of our contractors, palliative measures were put in place by the bank to cushion the effect on them.
“These include payment of contract cessation packages of over half a billion naira already paid through their employers as well as opportunity given to those with requisite qualification to apply to the bank for permanent employment.
“In addition, the bank has offered them the opportunity to become Xpress point agents of Ecobank as a way of further providing them entrepreneurial and financial empowerment. May we state that Ecobank is not obligated to renew its contract with the service providers involved.”