The Central Bank of Nigeria on Monday rejected claims that it had ordered the sacking of staff and closing of branches at some of the country's banks.

Local media reported that banks' senior management had claimed their decision to sack thousands of workers was due to orders from the central bank. The Daily Champion, a newspaper, said in late December that unions believed banks would sack 21,000 workers by the end of March. Vanguard, a newspaper, on Tuesday reported that 7,000 in the industry