As Nigerians battle with the naira crisis nationwide, a seeming peaceful protest over the rejection of old naira notes snowballed into a riot that consumed three banks in Delta State, Elo Edremoda reports.
AS it has become the norm in the past few weeks, by 7 am on Wednesday, February 15, long queues of people had formed at the three banks in Udu Local Government Area of Delta State. Two of the banks, Union Bank and First Bank, are located on Udu Road; the former before Jigbale Market, and the latter close to Ovwian Junction. The third, Access Bank, formerly Diamond Bank, is located about a stone’s throw from Orhuwhorun Roundabout. The three banks are no more than a minute drive away from one other.
The bank customers had gone to the banks hopeful that they would successfully make cash withdrawals or deposits. Although efforts to get the comments of individuals who were at the banks on the day of the unfortunate incident were fruitless, it was learnt that most of those who were at the banks for cash deposits were there with the old naira notes. They might have leaned on the Supreme Court’s ruling which directed that the old currencies should be used side by side the redesigned notes.
The customers were sure that the apex bank, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), would obey the Supreme Court’s ruling. The CBN had given February 10, last Friday, as deadline for the use of the old naira notes, 10 days after the first deadline for the use of the monies, expired. Hence, the people thronged the banks for their respective financial transactions, which never came to be.
After CBN’s second deadline on Friday, February 10, residents of Delta State, particularly in Udu, continued the use of the old denominations. However, by Tuesday, February 14, several institutions, both private and government-owned, began to reject the old naira notes. Okada (commercial motorcycle) riders, tricycle operators and buses began to reject the old currencies. They said they could no longer accept them because filling stations were no longer accepting them. The same went for traders in markets and shop owners.
Angered by the development, especially with the poor sales due to cash scarcity, market women reportedly demanded the collection of the old naira notes in protest. But an irate mob comprising youths reportedly hijacked the peaceful protest, destroying automated teller machines (ATMs) of the banks, burning down parts of the buildings and two vehicles at the premises of Union Bank, carting away properties as well as setting bonfires across the major roads.
Several traders at the nearby Jigbale Market abandoned their goods as they scampered into safety.
Eyewitness accounts
It was a near herculean task getting residents to narrate what transpired on that fateful Wednesday, as they were not willing to make comments when approached. As the reporter walked along Udu Road and on to Orhuwhorun Junction, where the ruined banks are located, she stopped at intervals to get eyewitness accounts of the mayhem unleashed by the suspected hoodlums, but most of them claimed not to have been around when the attackers struck. Others adamantly declined making comments.
After several brick walls, a trader close to the Union Bank agreed to speak.
The trader said: “Market women were doing a peaceful protest with calls that the old naira notes be collected. A while later, some boys began to protest wildly. The riot policemen at Access Bank shot into the air and they ran into the bank. But before then, it would seem that some staff of the bank had been told to leave. Before they knew what was happening, the mob had started destroying things in the bank.
“The first set of soldiers that came talked to them peacefully. The second set that came shot teargas, slapped anyone they saw and picked up some persons. In the process of shooting, a flying bullet hit someone on the leg. People were just running up and down. It was not a laughing matter at all.
“At Union bank, some boys came in a Keke NAPEP (commercial tricycle) and drove around the place. After some time, a staff that was standing in front of the Union Bank branch was dragged and beaten up. They invaded and destroyed items inside the bank. They burnt the ATM and went inside to collect laptops.”
Another source disclosed that the incident started around 10 a.m. at Access Bank.
The said: “When they first got here (Union Bank), the security people drove them away. But as soon as they left, the boys returned and started ransacking the place. They destroyed the ATM and set it on fire.”
Asked if they made away with money, she said no. Asked whether the ATMs were stuffed with money, she said they had not even opened the main entrance for customers to go in. “People were just outside waiting to be attended to.”
She added: “What the boys did was totally out of place. I mean, do we now have the money? Why destroy these properties?
“However, the banks brought this on everyone by hoarding the new notes. They would give cash to POS operators and tell other customers they had no money.
“Sometimes, they would announce that they would pay people N10,000 each. But as they got more juicy deals, they would return to say there was no more money and they could only pay N5,000. That was how they starved customers of cash for their selfish gains. Now, see what it resulted in.”
A commercial vehicle operator who plies the route corroborated the traders’ claims. He added that at the First Bank, the hoodlums broke in and carted away plasma television sets. Someone, according to him, sustained bullet injuries during the fracas.
Sounding the sources out as to who the attackers of the banks might be, they opined that it could not have been the bank customers.
“My sister, would you go to the bank with sticks and stones to fight because of f money? It was people like you and I, elderly people too, that went there. I think all these boys hijacked things and seized the opportunity to wreak havoc,” one of the sources stated.
On his part, the commercial vehicle operator claimed the “police have been raiding the area since that day. Even this morning too, I heard they picked up some boys.
“If you check now, you will discover that some of those who have been arrested don’t have accounts with the banks. That tells you something; that they might have been sponsored or that they were just bad Area Boys.”
Aftermath of attacks
Meanwhile, while the three affected banks have been put out of service, it was observed that banks across neighbouring Effurun and Warri cities have shut down operations. A tour through the metropolis on Friday morning saw several banks shut.
Point of Sales (POS) kiosks, which are common sights at several points in the cities, were hitherto shut. A couple of them which were opened had no cash to dispense.
Vehicular activities by commercial operators were also on the low, The Nation observed.
Arrest of suspects
The Delta State Police Command said it had arrested 13 suspects in relation to the attacks.
The Commissioner of Police, Ari Mohammed Ali, had also directed that the suspects be moved to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Asaba.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Bright Edafe, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), who disclosed this to our correspondent, said: “We have 13 suspects arrested. The CP has directed the matter be transferred to the State CID.
“Two banks and two vehicles were set ablaze.”
