Fuel, naira misery: Police reveal plan to attack banks, media houses and other strategic places by crooks in Oyo

By Soji Ajibola

Police have suggested that there is a plan to attack offices of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) banks, media houses and other strategic places under the guise of fuel and insufficient supply of redesigned naira notes by unscrupulous elements in the state Oyo.

It will be recalled that in the early hours of Friday, aggrieved residents took over the main roads, especially the Gate/Iwo roadas in the Ibadan North East Local Government area in protest against the inadequate supply of naira notes by the Central Bank of Nigeria .

Customers also waited endlessly at the various points of the ATMs of some banks in the metropolis.

Long queues were observed at some ATMs, despite a notice that they were not handing out the redesigned ones as stated by CBN.

Outraged by this development, aggrieved residents barricaded main roads, lit bonfires as a police station in the heart of the city was reportedly set on fire.

Disturbed by the trend, the Public Relations Officer of the police, Oyo Command, Adewale Osifeso was quoted in a statement calling on residents to be calm and keep the peace.

The statement read: “It is worth noting that available information reveals that certain unscrupulous elements have perfected plans to hijack the process, escalating the situation into widespread chaos by closing down and attacking places of interest, including but not limited to to INEC facilities, Banks, media houses, schools, correctional centers and other critical infrastructures, including the looting of major shopping malls and business centers in the state.

“The public is hereby advised, especially with regard to the youth segment, to avoid being used by agents of violence who wish to take advantage of the situation to criminally enrich themselves, especially as we navigate towards the 2023 general election as it commando is fully prepared to fully mobilize to prevent these criminal elements from turning Oyo State into their playground.

“As a result of the above, residents would witness high-octane patrols in coordination with the relevant sister security agency, all in an effort to boost residents’ confidence and also reassure them about the commitments made by the Oyo State Police Command to provide comprehensive security for all residents of the state.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC) has been spoon-feeding the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over the inadequate supply of the redesigned naira notes and the continued scarcity of the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), which the have made life difficult for people in the country.

NLC National President Ayuba Wabba, during an interview with journalists, threw the bomb in Ibadan on Thursday, on the margins of the inauguration of Food Union Hotel and Suites, Apata, Ibadan, Oyo State, built by the National Union of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE), headed by the outgoing national president, Lateef Oyelekan.

He argued that the scarcity of fuel and the redesigned naira notes could be an attempt to disrupt the conduct of this year’s general election. The way out of the ongoing fuel challenges, he said, is for the federal government to get its four refineries up and running.

On the redesigned naira notes, Wabba said, “As early as 12 December 2022, we wrote to the CBN Governor the probable consequence of the action he was about to take in redesigning the naira notes, without consultation and dialogue with stakeholders. He took the action unilaterally. We’ve seen the consequence happen that we warned him about. Also, we wrote to Mr. President as NLC to tell him what we envisioned because the entire economy of Nigeria and other part of Africa is largely informal.

“So people trade in real currencies in their small and medium businesses. By the time you retrieve the old currency and the new ones are unavailable, you will see chaos. When I came to Ibadan this morning, I have seen a very chaotic situation in every bank where people lose many man hours. People are lining up at banks to collect their hard-earned money that the government cannot give them.”