As a protest against the ongoing shortage of the new naira notes on Friday turned violent, stores were burglarized in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, in southern Nigeria.
According to reports, the protest, which was centered at Port Harcourt’s busy Mile Three Market on Ikwerre Road, descended into violence as hoodlums used it as cover to rob people of their possessions.
The windshields of cars parked along the streets were broken by hoodlums, who also injured nearby drivers and bystanders.
When contacted by phone and text, Grace Iringe-Koko, the Rivers police spokesperson, declined to comment on the situation.
Similar protests have been reported in Edo and Delta states in the south-south region and some states in the south-west of the country where angry youths set commercial banks ablaze as tension continues to grow over the scarcity of the newly redesigned N200, N500 and N1, 000.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), last December introduced the new naira notes as a part of the Nigerian government’s efforts to fight corruption, terrorism, counterfeiting and related crimes.
But some state governors, including Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, has dismissed the policy as political and anti-people, adding that it has nothing to do with fighting corruption.
President Muhammadu Buhari in a nationwide broadcast on Thursday sympathised with Nigerians over the difficulties experienced as regards the implementation of the naira redesigned policy.
The Nigerian leader admitted setbacks in the policy including scarcity of the new notes but however said the policy was achieving its aims.
“Considering the health of our economy and the legacy we must bequeath to the next administration and future generations of Nigerians, I admonish every citizen to strive harder to make their deposits by taking advantage of the platforms and windows being provided by the CBN,” Mr Buhari said.