Riots break out in a Nigerian city due to a lack of cash, as tension builds in the country three weeks before a presidential election.
According to police and residents, angry protesters attacked banks in a southwest Nigeria city on Tuesday due to cash shortage.
For weeks, Africa’s most populous nation has been paralyzed by fuel shortages.
Cash dispensers have run dry following a sudden currency swap. Long lines have formed outside banks and gas stations, and tempers are fraying.
According to police, riots erupted in three parts of southwest Abeokuta, after customers waited hours to withdraw cash without success.
“Sadly, some hoodlums hijacked the protests and began trashing and vandalizing bank properties,” Abimbola Oyeyemi, spokesman for the state police, told AFP.
Employees and the properties of two commercial banks, he said, had been attacked, and protesters had set fire to roads to disrupt traffic.
Although the situation has been stabilized, however, we are warning hoodlums and criminals to stop wreaking havoc in the state.”
According to witnesses, the police started firing to disperse the protesters, who pelted them with stones, iron bars, and planks. This claim is refuted by the police.
Without warning, the central bank announced in October that it was changing banknotes in an effort to combat inflation and reduce the number of fake bills in circulation in the country.
The abrupt change, however, resulted in long lines as Nigerians hustled to meet a deadline to turn in old notes, which has since been extended.
Also, a persistent fuel shortage is also intensifying rage.
While Nigeria is one of Africa’s largest crude oil producers, it lacks refining capacity and must rely on imports from Europe and elsewhere.
The situation has resulted in an increase in pump prices.
With Nigerians queuing for hours to fill up.
Protests have taken place in a number of cities across the country.
While one person was killed last week in south-western Ibadan when an angry crowd clashed with police.
Two weeks ago, during President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit, riots erupted in northern Nigeria’s largest city, Kano.
Nigerians will go to the polls on February 25 to choose a successor to Buhari, who will leave office at the end of his second term.
