The growing anger over the cash crisis resulting from the Central Bank of Nigeria currency redesign policy boiled over on Wednesday as protesting customers torched banks and destroyed Automated Teller Machines in Edo and Delta states.
The violence, which paralysed social and economic activities in the two states, also claimed three lives while many others were injured during the riot.The protests equally spread to Oyo, Ondo, Benue and Kwara states as residents vented their anger over the scarcity of cash which had made life unbearable for many Nigerians.
Trouble started in Benin, the Edo State capital after the bank customers besieged the state branch of the CBN at 9, Akpapakva Road to lodge their old naira notes around 8 am. 305Meet Aliyu Musa, Ilorin- Based Self-Taught Aircraft, Drone Maker
Findings by PUNCH indicated that the people were calm as they waited at the gate for the officials to attend to them. However, at some minutes to 10 am, a Hilux van carrying some officials attempted to enter the premises but the people stopped it in the belief that it was there to convey new naira notes.
The police officers guarding the office appealed to the people to allow the vehicle to access the premises but they were adamant and attempted to invade the premises. The restive bank customers threw stones and sticks at the vehicle and in an attempt to disperse the crowd, the police mistakenly shot a male customer dead, further inflaming the protesters.
To restore peace and order in the metropolis, soldiers and policemen were quickly dispatched to the crisis zones and the custodial centre to prevent a jailbreak. Also, members of the Edo State Security Network and vigilantes paraded the street, dismantling the roadblocks set up by the protesters in different parts of the city.
In Warri, Delta State, youths protesting the rejection of the old naira notes razed several vehicles parked in front of First Bank Plc, Access Bank and Union Bank branches located in the Orovwohworun area of the Udu. No fewer than four vehicles were razed by the protesters in and around the Udu Express Junction and Ovwian area of Udu.
The PUNCH gathered that the protesters, who comprised mainly tricycle and motorcycle commercial operators, similarly attacked the ATM points before setting the banking halls on fire. The mob blocked a section of the road before torching Access Bank and other banks.
One of the protesters who did not disclose his identity said, “We are hungry and we are in a cash dilemma. No new naira notes and they are rejecting the old ones. People cannot eat, do business, we are hungry and people are dying and they are still saying politics.”
Also, a fuel station in the area was set on fire for rejecting the old notes. There was tension following heavy gunshots fired by soldiers and policemen drafted to protect banks in Udu, Effurun and Warri. In Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, as early as 7 am, protesters started barricading the major roads to protest the naira and fuel crises in the state.
