Staff of Zenith Bank plc were left in shock following the decision of the bank to massively sack its top management workforce.

Employees of Zenith Bank PLC, one of Nigeria’s leading new generation banks, were hit with a sad news today as over 1,200 were sacked on Wednesday, Premium Times reports.

Although a source said about 240 people were sacked, including eight General Managers and 40 Assistant General Managers, it is likely that more than that number of people were dismissed.

According to Stella Dimoko Korku s a source is quoted as saying: "This past weekend, Zenith bank sacked more than 2,000 staff. There was no warning, no rumors, nothing!

"As a matter of fact, two Executive Directors were promoted to Deputy Managing Director by Jim Ovia himself last week and some other top management were also promoted.

"Most of the staff believed there was an imminent mass staff promotion looming soonest and went home for the weekend with joy and hope.

"So you can imagine the shock when a lot of people were notified on Saturday up till today that their services are no longer required. And more sack to continue even this week.

"In this harsh economy and with Christmas a month away, what a cruel inhumane thing to do. Most of these people have worked for more than 10years, staying loyal to the brand. Some have made sacrifices for this bank but were la!d off so wickedly.

"Where is the Minister of labour in this country? Did they not notify banks to cease laying off their staff? Oh I weep for my country Nigeria! I weep for the sacked staff and their families! I weep, Oh I weep!”

Another source added: “A formal meeting was held with the affected staff since Monday this week, where details of their disengagement benefits were discussed and agreement reached."

Recently, Access Bank, which acquired former Intercontinental Bank, sacked 1,600 of its workers across the nation, while Mainstreet Bank, one of the three nationalised banks is reported to have equally sent more than 400 of its workers away for a similar reason.