On Wednesday, agitated youths in Delta State set two commercial banks on fire in retaliation for the continued shortage of new naira notes and their rejection of the older notes.
The affected banks were located in the Orovwohworun area of Udu, Delta State, and included the First Bank of Nigeria and an Access Bank Branch.
According to reports, the majority of the protesters were commercial tricycle and motorcycle drivers who were upset that the commercial banks would not accept the outdated 200, 500, and 1000 naira notes.
According to witnesses, problems began when bank customers couldn’t access new notes because of the long lines they had to wait in.
According to reports, the angry youths attacked their ATM machines first before setting fire to the banks after griping bitterly about the biting effects of the currency shortage and the bank officials’ attitude.
One of the protesters who would 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 torched for rejecting the old notes from residents.
The angry protesters blocked a section of the road before setting fire to the Automated Teller Machines in the banks.
The Delta State Police Command’s spokesperson, DSP Bright Edafe, could not be reached for comments on the incidents as of the time of filing this report.
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