By Ishaya Ibrahim
Widespread protests and riots have erupted in some states over the scarcity of new Naira notes.
The protests and riots follow frustrations of citizens after banks started rejecting the old naira notes of N200, N500, and N1000 despite Supreme Court ruling to the contrary.
The wide scale protests erupted in Edo, Delta, Rivers, Kwara, Ondo, and Oyo on Wednesday, February 15.
Online newspaper, The Cable, quoted Tobechukwu Nebeolisa, a protester in Benin city, who said that the new naira notes scarcity affected his travel plans as motorists in parks are no longer accepting old notes or bank transfers.
“This whole new naira redesign is crazy. I’ve not been able to use my bank app or USSD to make transactions either so the only option left is to go to the bank,” Nebeolisa said.
“Meanwhile, the only cash they were letting people withdraw was N5000. Yesterday, they made it N3000. I went to the bank today and they told me there’s no money, can you imagine?
“I just left the bank. I was so angry and I got ‘crazy’. I told them I wasn’t leaving till I got transport to leave then the manager came out and gave me N500.”
In Port Harcourt, River’s capital, Samuel Emmanuel, a resident of the state, said the cash crunch had affected him and his family, adding that he had to rely on mechanics and point of sale (PoS) operators to exchange old notes.
“Right now there’s traffic around Irunmole, the situation is not funny at all,” Emmanuel told TheCable.
Ifeanyi Okowa, governor of Delta and vice-presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), described the burning of an ATM gallery in his state as “deeply concerning”.
“The news of the bank’s ATM gallery being set ablaze during a protest in Orhuwhorun Community, Udu Local Government Area is deeply concerning,” he said.
“While I understand the difficulties many of you are going through, I implore all citizens to remain peaceful during these trying times.
“We are fully aware of your concerns and the difficulties you face, but we strongly advise against resorting to violence, such as burning down banks that employ our people. Such actions will only exacerbate the problem and could have far-reaching consequences for our nation.”
Anger and frustration over the scarcity of naira have been building since the beginning of February when residents of Oyo state mounted roadblocks and set up bonfires to protest the situation as well as the scarcity of petrol.