Protests over the lack of naira cash were met with tire burning and traffic blockades by angry bank customers in Ibadan on Wednesday.
According to information obtained by the Daily Trust correspondent, the protestors first congregated at the Eleyele crossroads in the state’s Ibadan North West Local Government Area.
The demonstrators snarled traffic near the Eleyele-Ijokodo-Sango-Poly route by blocking the frequently used Eleyele-Ologuneru-Eruwa road.
Vehicles had to use alternative routes as a result of the traffic jam.
Many schoolchildren were also seen making their way home due to the lack of commercial vehicles.
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A similar demonstration rocked the city on Friday, February 3. Some thugs from the well-known Araromi spare parts market, Gate, took advantage of the demonstration and set a police station on fire, stole the station’s Plasma TV, vandalized a nearby WEMA Bank branch, and looted some roadside shops.
According to reports, Mogaji Akin Fagbemi, the head of the Oyo State Road Transport Management Agency (OYRTMA), has sent officers to Eleyele in an effort to quell the traffic as the protest has steadily expanded to Sango, Bodija Oju-Irin, Olorunsogo, and other locations.
According to Oyo State police, protests erupted in a few locations in Ibadan, the state capital early on Wednesday, but they were quickly put under control.
“There were pockets of protest this morning by some aggrieved bank customers,” spokesman Adewale Osifeso told AFP.
He stated that no one was arrested when police were sent in to maintain order,
“Normalcy has since returned as the Command has taken all necessary action to forestall breakdown of law and order.”
According to residents, the violence began when angry bank clients protested because they were unable to access their money or exchange old notes for new ones in the Dupe, Mokola, Ogunpa, Apata, and Iwo Road neighbourhoods.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has adjourned the hearing for the case brought against the CBN by several state governments on the Naira Redesign till the 22nd of February.