There are reports of protests in the streets of Ibadan, Oyo State over the lingering Naira swap and fuel price hike.
The Central Bank of Nigeria had introduced newly resdesigned Naira notes with a January 31st deadline to turn over the old notes for the new ones.
The deadline has been extended to the 10th February with extension granted till the 17th February.
However, there has been serious complaints over the lack of the new notes at the banks and Automated Teller Machines. This situation has made businesses and individuals struggle with transactions.
In addition, the current acute fuel scarcity is hitting the country hard. Fuel prices have jumped more than 300% in many areas. Fuel is officially sold for N180 per litre but prices of N600 / N800 per litre are now common in the country.
Fuel queues have resurfaced nationwide with vehicle owners spending days at on queues for the scarce commodity.
The protests in Ibadan are not therefore not totally unanticpated.
There has been videos circulating on social media of the protest particularly around Iwo Road. Some disturbing videos showed some bank branches being attacked with destruction of properties.
The question now is how widespread can this protest go and how violent will it get in the coming days?
