Naira Scarcity: Rioting Protesters Block Lagos-Ibadan Expressway

Vehicular movements were brought to a stand still after protest erupted at the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

The youths had taken to the road to protest over the naira scarcity and inability of residents to access the newly redesigned notes.

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It was reported that hundreds of commuters were stranded as protesters blocked the highway, burning tyres and threatening violence.

The rioters, who are raining curses on the Nigerian government, said the currency crisis currently rocking the country is biting harder.

READ ALSO: Naira Scarcity: Sanwo-Olu Calls For Calm, Admits FG Has Brought Pains

As of 11 a.m. on Friday, many vehicles could neither move forward on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway nor return to Lagos as many barricades were set on the road, even as security operatives tried to disperse the rioters.

A team of police officers from Mowe Police Station and soldiers were later deployed disperse the rioters.

Speaking on the development, one of the stranded commuters and former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in Osun State, Sikiru Ayedun, said the protest is a reflection of the hardship being suffered being suffered by Nigerians.

It was earlier reported that soldiers and police were deployed to douse the riot that erupted in Mile 12, Ketu, Ojota area of Lagos on Friday over the scarcity of the new naira notes.

Many commuters on the Lagos-Ikorodu expressway had to flout traffic laws to reroute their movement.

The naira scarcity has led to violence in some parts of the country. On Thursday, President Muhammadu Buhari approved the continuous use of N200 notes until 10 April alongside the new notes.

He, however, insisted that the old N500 and N1,000 notes have ceased to be legal tenders, only saying the CBN would continue to accept them.