Protests against Nigeria’s deepening cash crisis turned violent Friday prompting police in Lagos to fire tear gas to disperse demonstrators, days before the nation votes to elect a new president.
(Bloomberg) — Protests against Nigeria’s deepening cash crisis turned violent Friday prompting police in Lagos to fire tear gas to disperse demonstrators, days before the nation votes to elect a new president.
The country’s central bank in October announced it would redesign 200-, 500- and 1,000-naira notes. The move has led to a severe shortage of bills as people have been unable to get new notes after depositing their old denominations.
The violence began in parts of Nigeria’s biggest city after traders and petrol stations started rejecting 500- and 1,000-naira notes, Agence France-Presse reported. President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday asked residents to return the high-value notes at central bank offices and “designated points,” while allowing the 200 naira bills to remain in circulation until April 10.
“The protesters are said to be angry over the naira redesign and its consequent scarcity that has caused so much hardship and confusion among our people,” the Lagos State government said in a statement. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu “is working with his colleagues to ensure that this hardship does not go on,” according to the statement.
People were seen burning tires to block roads, according to AFP, while the Punch Tweeted a video of crowds thronging the Central Bank of Nigeria office in Lagos.
Demonetization has severely disrupted everyday life throughout Africa’s most-populous nation and divided the ruling All Progressives Congress, with its presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu saying the policy will damage the party’s chances in presidential and legislative elections scheduled for Feb. 25.
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