New Naira: Gridlock Builds On Lagos-Ibadan Expressway As Protest Erupts

Posted by Samuel on Fri 17th Feb, 2023 - tori.ng

A source in Mowe area, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said youths in the area have taken to the road and blocked it in protest

According to a report by The PUNCH, the vehicular movement on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway has begun to gradually come to a halt.

The gridlock, which is almost at a stand-still, has spread from the Mowe area of Ogun State inwards the Long Bridge area of Arepo, following protest that broke out on Friday morning over the naira scarcity.

The PUNCH correspondent who passed by noticed police presence along the expressway and many vehicles turning back in an attempt to escape the chaos ahead.

A source in Mowe area, who spoke to The PUNCH correspondent on condition of anonymity, said youths in the area have taken to the road and blocked it in protest

In a video sent to The PUNCH, protesters are seen chanting, “Old naira notes”

The PUNCH had reported that the protesters resisted police intervention and threatened to set the police station in the area ablaze.

It was also earlier reported that fighting erupted in some areas on the popular Lagos-Ikorodu expressway in Lagos State over the scarcity of the new naira notes and the hardship the policy has thrown Nigerians.

On Friday morning, The PUNCH gathered that suspected louts in Mile 12, Ketu and Ojota areas on the expressway, took to the road attacking commuters and creating chaos.

On Thursday the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), in a national broadcast had said the old N500 and N1,000 notes were no longer legal tender in the country, however extending the validity of the old N200 note for 60 days, till April 10, 2023.