On Friday, residents of Ore in the Odigbo council area in Ondo blocked the busy Ore-Benin expressway to register their displeasure over the scarcity of naira notes.

The protesters made a bonfire on both sides of the expressway, making it impossible for vehicular movement, resulting in a heavy gridlock on the axis.

Some of the protesters who spoke in separate interviews said they were protesting over cash scarcity which they claimed was taking a toll on them and their families.

They also lamented their inability to access cash from banks’ automated teller machines (ATMs) and were not allowed into the banking halls.

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

Rotimi Akinluwa, another protester, said the inability to access his money through the banks’ ATMs and banking halls was frustrating.

“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,” he said.

Another protester, Bummi Adewole, described President Muhammadu Buhari’s nationwide broadcast on Thursday as “the most frustrating one as he refused to heed to the yearnings of the masses in his broadcast.”

“Buhari said they should re-circulate the N200 old notes. How many people will this satisfy? In fact, there is no solution on the way at all, and the problem continues,” Mr explained.

A police spokeswoman in Ondo, Funmilayo Odunlami, in a telephone interview, said police personnel from Ore Police Area Command were “on top of the situation to arrest any breakdown of law and order.”

Sikiru Alonge, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) unit commander in Ore, said it was difficult to control traffic on the axis, urging motorists to use alternative routes. 

(NAN)