ALL BANKS SHUT DOWN COMPLETELY.

Rioters have attacked bank ATMs and blocked roads in three Nigerian cities as anger spilled on the streets over a scarcity of cash, just days before the country’s general election.

Nigeria has been struggling with a shortage in physical cash since the central bank began to swap old bills of the local naira currency for new ones, leading to a shortfall in banknotes.

Banks have limited access to cash for withdrawals because of a scarcity of the new notes, and some businesses refuse to accept old naira, causing huge queues, angering customers and disrupting businesses.

The unrest in the south-western city of Ibadan, and Benin City and Delta State in southern Nigeria, came days before Nigeria holds elections on 25 February to decide on a successor to the president, Muhammadu Buhari, who will step down after two terms.

“We have arrested nine suspects so far. Some persons will still call this protest,” state police spokesperson Bright Edafe wrote on Twitter.

The Channels Television news station shared on its Twitter account a video of young men burning tyres in the streets on the outskirts of the city of Warri in Delta State.

In Benin City, protests broke out after police stopped “hoodlums” from attacking the local office of the central bank, according to the Edo State governor’s spokesperson, Crusoe Osagie.

“The hoodlums then started attacking and vandalising banks. They also blocked roads and forced businesses to close,” he said.

But he blamed the unrest on politically motivated actions by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party, taking advantage of discontent to sow chaos in the opposition Peoples Democratic party (PDP)-governed state.

“Although the people are dissatisfied with the naira scarcity, the APC capitalised on the discontentment and instigated hoodlums and thugs to cause violence in the city,” Osagie said.

The APC did not immediately respond. But the APC and PDP have repeatedly traded accusations over the cash shortages during campaigning for next week’s election.

There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries in Wednesday’s unrest.

By guardian