Residents of Ido-Ani in Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State have appealed to the management of First Bank Ido-Ani to reopen its branch, which has remained closed since a deadly armed robbery attack forced its shutdown in 2019. The appeal was made by community leaders, who argued that restoring banking services would revive economic activities and strengthen financial inclusion across the area.
Speaking on behalf of concerned residents and indigenes, community leader and former Chairman of the Irekari Local Council Development Area, Mr. Steve Otaloro, urged the bank to reconsider the decision to keep the branch closed. In a statement issued on Monday, Otaloro described the continued closure of First Bank Ido-Ani as inconsistent with the legacy of the bank’s first indigenous Managing Director, Chief Samuel Oyewole Asabia.
The branch was attacked by armed robbers in April 2019, during which the attackers reportedly carted away an undisclosed amount of money from the Automated Teller Machine. The incident also claimed the lives of at least six people, including a police officer and a school vice-principal. Security operatives later arrested one of the robbery suspects through a joint operation involving the police and the military.
According to Otaloro, the Ido-Ani branch was established during the 1980s while Chief Asabia served as Managing Director of First Bank. Although there is no official record indicating that the branch was opened solely because Ido-Ani was Asabia’s hometown, he said its establishment reflected the bank’s commitment to expanding banking services to rural communities.
He noted that unlike many rural branches that operated from rented premises, First Bank Ido-Ani invested in a purpose-built banking hall and an official residence for the branch manager, demonstrating its long-term commitment to the community.
For decades, the branch served residents of Ido-Ani and neighbouring communities, including Idogun, Imeri, Owani, Afo, Ikun and Oba. The facility also provided banking services to institutions such as the Federal Government College, Ido-Ani, the Nigerian Navy Secondary School, Imeri, as well as farmers, traders, artisans, transport operators, cooperative societies, public servants and business owners.
Otaloro said the prolonged closure has forced many residents and entrepreneurs to travel long distances to conduct routine banking transactions. He added that several people now depend on Point-of-Sale (POS) operators for services previously available at the bank. Calling on the bank’s management to reverse the earlier decision, he said history would judge the current leadership by its willingness to restore banking services to the community.
“The present management may not have ordered the closure of the Ido-Ani branch, but history will remember whether it had the vision to restore it.
“There is still time for First Bank to return to the historic town of Ido-Ani, where its first indigenous Managing Director, Chief Samuel Oyewole Asabia, began his remarkable journey and now rests.
“Reopening the branch would be a fitting tribute to the doyen of Nigerian banking and a practical demonstration that the bank remains committed to the ideals of rural banking and financial inclusion that he championed,” Otaloro said.
