Protests rock Ilorin over cash swap

There was palpable fear in Kwara state as huge protests rocked Ilorin, the state capital over cash scarcity.

As early as 7 am, the angry protesters, mainly youths converged on major streets and areas of the metropolis, expressing frustration over the non-availability and rejection of old naira notes by banks and other businesses.

The protests, involving majorly youth, reportedly started at Gerin Alimi and later spread to such places as Oloje, Ogidi, Oja Oba, UITH among other adjoining roads in the state capital.

Bonfires made of used tires and wood were used by the aggrieved youth to cause traffic gridlock in the town.

Scores of other residents of the metropolis thronged the Ilorin branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to deposit their old notes but to avail.

Men of the Police Command drafted to the affected areas rose up to the occasion by restoring normalcy.

Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Rafiu Ajakaye, urged the people to remain calm, saying, “we’re in this together”.

The statement said that Governor Abdulrazaq sympathised with the people of the state on the continuous scarcity of the naira as a result of the recent CBN’s currency redesign policy while he appealed to the people of the state to remain calm and peaceful, and not give in to any frustrations over the naira scarcity.