We are not avoiding our responsibility due to the downed pole at C’River Church – Bank MD

The management of Ekondo Microfinance Bank has reacted to the alarm raised by the Methodist Church Nigeria, Ikot Omin Eno Abasi Circuit, in Cross River State, that the bank had been insensitive to the plight of the church, after a telecommunications mast belonging to the bank fell and damaged the parsonage of the responsible minister.

During an interactive session with LEADERSHIP on Thursday at the bank’s headquarters, Managing Director (MD) of the bank, Mr. Austin Agbesoyin, denied the allegation of insensitivity against the bank.

The management of the financial institution earlier accused the church of trying to milk the bank dry when the church demanded N35 million in damages for the damaged parsonage following the mast collapse.

Agbesoyin said the bank will never refrain from taking responsibility in all its actions and that in this case, “our clear intention is to restitute and repair the damaged properties of the church.

“We are aware of our social responsibility, but the church will not be allowed to attempt to milk the bank or make profits as a result of an incident completely beyond the bank’s control.

“We were there to inspect the place, we were doing all these things before we were stopped.

“It’s not like we were lax about the whole thing. The intention was to repair the damage within 24 hours, so that the responsible minister can use that place, but we were stopped by the church to say that nothing more could be wrong.

“Our insurance company arrived on site to assess the extent of the damage so they could finance it, but was stopped by the church and emphasized that they will assess the damage themselves.

“Our intention was to bring that place back into shape, but we were surprised by the church’s response. We were surprised that they went to the press and provided incorrect information. Our insurance company was denied access to the damaged property.

“We met with them twice. As I speak, nothing is happening in our branch bank. Our employees from the 8 Miles branch had just been there to direct customers to our head office.

“Apart from the lost integrity, the branch had lost about N200 million to date. We gave the bishop a bill of quantities from certified engineers who were happy to repair the damage within a week, but they refused. What they don’t understand is that they are not aware that we too had lost something. That is why we hastened to repair the damage.

“What we are saying is that N35m is outrageous because as a bank we do not take money from customers’ deposits to spend anyway; it is borne by the bank. The only thing is that our property was insured. And of course, the insurance company wouldn’t just pay N35 million to such a person.

“They went to the scene and did their investigation, and they were keen to repair the damage, but the church refused. We were ready to repair the structure for them and they said they didn’t want it.

“They are unfair to the bank. Even when we begged community youth to let us leave the collapsed mast and stay there for a while, we were still blamed.

“We are all Christians and we follow this path. This is not what we know about the church. That was not the case in the beginning. We don’t know where all this comes from,” the doctor lamented.