Police warn protesters against disturbing public peace on Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway

On Friday, the Police Command in Ogun issued a warning to protesters not to disturb the peace on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.

The warning was given by SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, the state’s police spokesman, to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ota, Ogun.

Despite having the right to protest, Oyeyemi advised against upsetting the peace in the community.

“The police will not allow people to constitute nuisance by breaking the in the state,” he said.

The spokesman said all Area Commanders of Police had been deployed to maintain and restore peace on the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway.

According to NAN, angry protesters on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway blocked the Sango-Ota, Ifo, Papa, and Itori highways because gas stations wouldn’t accept the old N500 and N1,000 notes.

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A NAN correspondent who monitored the development observed that the protesters were seen playing football on the expressway while motorists and passagers were stranded for several hours.

A commercial driver, Mr Tope Bankole, said most petrol stations were the major cause of the protests because they refused to collect the old N500 and N1,000 notes.

Bankole said he had over N130,000 of the N1,000 notes, adding that he tried to used some of the money to buy petrol but the old notes were rejected.

According to him, petrol stations are supposed to be collecting these old notes because the commercial drivers can only spend the money at filling stations.

“There would not have been problem if the filling stations were collecting the the old N500 and N1,000 notes,” Bankole said.
He claimed that the cash crunch, inability to use ATMs to withdraw cash, and filling stations’ refusal to accept old notes had an impact on the poor majority.

Bankole claimed that while the majority of the poor were fighting internal battles, the wealthy were not affected.

Ismail Sanni, one of the protesters, claimed that the refusal of the old N500 and N1,000 notes to be accepted was the reason why the protesters decided to voice their complaints.

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According to Sanni, the current cash shortage, inability to use ATMs to withdraw cash, and rejection of old notes have caused the general populace severe suffering.

He claimed that the inability of the general public to withdraw money from banks was making life difficult for the typical Nigerian.
President Mohammadu Buhari reportedly said on Thursday that the old N200 notes should be used with the new notes up until April 10 while the old N500 and N1,000 notes stopped being accepted as legal tender in the nation.
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