Residents of Ibadan, Oyo State, hit the streets on Wednesday morning, expressing their displeasure with the scarcity of Naira notes, FIJ can report.

Sources told FIJ that in the Oju Irin area of Bodija, a protest was ongoing, and angry residents were burning tyres to express their anger.

A source who identified himself as Oluko Peter told FIJ that he was on his way to work this morning when he got to the Oju Irin bus stop only to discover that the roads were blocked.

He said this was because some young people were protesting the scarcity of new Naira notes.

“The group of men kept screaming that they did not want the new money. When my tricycle driver realised the road was blocked, he turned back and said he could not go further. I had to alight and go home,” he told FIJ.

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Peter said as he turned back heading to his house, he saw branches of trees on some vehicles, while pedestrians held tiny branches of trees to support the protest.

According to Peter, some men protesting in Oju Irin attempted to vandalise some vehicles that refused to go back.

He also said the protest might be politically motivated, given that the young men who championed it kept saying they did not want the new currency.

“They looked like thugs and kept screaming that they did not want the new money. Although I saw passers-by and I understand that people were frustrated, I think the protest might be politically motivated because instead of protesting against the scarcity of new notes, they were against the new notes completely,” he said.

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Another source in Apata, Ibadan, who only identified himself as Bolaji, said the protest was gaining ground partly because retailers were rejecting old Naira notes, which was further frustrating the people.

“There is a protest in Bodija, and those whose businesses are disturbed by the unavailability of the new notes are protesting,” he said.

When FIJ called Adewale Osifeso, the Oyo State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), he said that although some parts of Ibadan witnessed pockets of protests over the scarcity of cash and fuel, they did not result in the destruction of property as some people claimed.

He also said that normalcy had returned to the areas as the police had taken “all necessary actions to forestall a breakdown of law and order”.