Naira scarcity: Roads blocked as residents protest in Rivers, Oyo, Lagos, Ogun

The protests against the scarcity of new naira notes by Nigerians have continued to spread to many parts of the country.

On Friday, protests broke out in Lagos, Rivers, Ogun, Ondo, and Oyo states.

Pictures and videos seen by TheCable and reports on social media showed bonfires, road blockages where motorists were in gridlocks, and stranded commuters.

In Lagos, residents were stranded as protests broke out around the Ojota area of the state before spreading to Maryland, Ketu, Mile 12, and some parts of Ikorodu.

Some road users were seen scampering for safety as some of the protesters attacked motorists.

Along some parts of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, there was no movement of vehicles as Magboro and Asese were blocked off by another band of protesters.

Videos shared with TheCable showed that both sides of the expressway along Magboro were blocked with plumes of smoke from burning tyres.

In Ogun, several road blockages were mounted by the protesters in Ifo LGA of the state with commercial activities affected.

Bonfires were also lit on both sides of the Lagos-Benin expressway as residents of Odigbo LGA in Ondo state demonstrated against the cash crunch.

Kayode Akinbola, one of the protesters, lamented the hardship that the naira scarcity is bringing upon his family.

“This is indeed a hard time for us, the naira scarcity is taking a toll on me and my family, and this protest is to demonstrate that we are not happy over this situation,” Akinbola said.

Rotimi Akinluwa, another protester, described the situation as “frustrating” as he has no access to the money in his bank account.

“I have my money in the bank and I can not get it, even the Point of Sales (PoS) operators no longer have the cash even if you want to buy, this is so frustrating,” Akinluwa said.

Protesters also blocked some portions of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway at the Soka area of Ibadan, the capital of Oyo, with motorists stranded in long gridlock.

Residents also took to the streets in Rivers state to protest the new naira notes scarcity.

There have been protests across parts of the country since the federal government’s redesign of N200, N500, and N1000 notes led to the scarcity of naira in the country.