Desmond Mgboh, Kano

A wave of panic withdrawals and rush purchases has hit several markets and commercial institutions in Kano ahead of a seven-day lockdown declared by the state government.

Governor Abdullahi Ganduje had, on Tuesday, ordered the state to shut down for seven days starting from 10pm yesterday as part of measures to check the spread of COVID-19.

Daily Sun observed that the order has prompted a lot of residents to storm their banks to withdraw money and the markets to stock up.

At a popular petroleum station on Club Road by King’s Garden, hundreds of buyers lined up with various sizes of cylinders waiting to buy gas.

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The panic rush is mostly noticed on Murtala Mohammed Way, Bompai area, where most of the banks are domiciled.

Scores of customers besieged their ATMs or were seen struggling to get into the banking halls.

At the popular Sabon Gari Market, there was an unprecedented rush for essential food items ranging from meats, spaghetti, beans, indomie, corn food,  gari, yams and sweet potatoes.

“The truth is that we don’t know the shape the lockdown would take. But if what we are hearing from some of these (other) states is anything to go buy, it makes sense to buy now. Even if there would be black market, like night market, the truth again is that you will be buying at a higher price when the lockdown comes into effect,” a housewife, Angela Oluchukwu, told Daily Sun.