Angry protesters in Ondo storm CBN to change old Naira notes

Some aggrieved residents in Akure, the Ondo State capital, on Tuesday, stormed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) office in Alagbaka to register their displeasure over the rejection of old Naira notes by the commercial banks in the state.

The customers which included commercial motorcyclists and drivers, traders, civil servants, businessmen, and women had besieged their various banks in exchange for the old notes for the new ones but were turned back by the officials.

The protesters, who were still in possession of the old notes of N200, N500 and N100, said they stormed the CBN office to swap to new notes.

An official of the apex bank who attended to the protesters directed them to their respective commercial banks to swap the notes.

He told them that the apex bank would soon issue a statement directing the banks to start collecting the old notes from the customers but the protesters insisted they have been turned back by their banks and directed to approach the apex bank.

One of the protesters who gave his name as Francis noted they were at the CBN office at Alagbaka, Akure because the commercial banks refused to collect the old notes from them.

He disclosed that the commercial banks no longer collect the old notes from them as at Monday and Tuesday morning, while their Automated Teller Machines (ATM) continue to dispense the old notes.

Francis said he could not allow his money to become useless, adding that “can you imagine, the bank is not collecting the old notes from us. They directed us to go and deposit the money at the CBN office and that’s the reason why we are here right now.

“Sadly, these banks are still dispensing old notes to us and they are not collecting the old notes by hand any longer. It’s just frustrating.”

However, armed policemen have taken over the premises of the CBN following a siege on the facility by some aggrieved bank customers.

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