The shortage of naira notes, which has caused agony for millions of Nigerians, prompted a civil society organization in Edo State, the Edo Civil Society Group, led by Comrade Agho Omobude, to block the main entrance of the Central Bank of Nigeria in Benin City on Tuesday.
Vehicles entering the Ring Road at Akpakpava were forced to travel through Igun Street to Sokponba before connecting to the Ring Road as a result of the protest.
In order to ease the suffering of Nigerians who are currently having a terrible time accessing their money, the protesters urged the appropriate authority to make the new naira notes available. They also urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to start issuing N100, N50, and N20 notes if the new notes were not immediately available.
Omobude claimed that the current naira swap strategy was an intentional effort by the central bank governor, Godwin Emiefele, working in collusion with the Federal Government to put the general public through unimaginable misery.
He swore that the group would stay at the bank’s entrance until the branch manager of the central bank in Benin spoke to them about the situation and added that it was cruel to keep allowing Nigerians to endure this misery.
Before they (the Civil Society Group) exited the bank’s gate at around 1pm, according to Omobude, the CBN in Edo and the Civil Society Organization struck some agreements.
He said, “We are tired of the crisis the shortage of the new naira note is causing. People are suffering and we say no to it. We reached an agreement with the CBN to disburse the smaller denominations across the counter with each customer getting N20,000.
“They also told us that the new notes should be made available and disbursed across the counter and through the Automated Teller Machines in all the banks.
“They have also accepted to include members of the Civil Society Organisations in the monitoring team set up by the apex bank to ensure monies given to banks are disbursed,” he added.
