No fewer than three persons have been confirmed dead following a violent protest over the scarcity of Naira notes in Benin city, Edo state.
Protesters disrupted peace in the town on Wednesday as a result of the hardship faced by the people in gaining access to the new notes.
The Central Bank of Nigeria has declared that the old naira has ceased to be a legal tender from 10 February.
The protesters attempted to break into the State branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) located along Akpakpava Street, a commercial nerve centre in Benin City, where most commercial banks are also located.
The riot went violent as the protesters attacked some commercial banks located in the area.
Some market women in the state also took to the streets to protest the scarcity of the new Naira notes.
Residents who were still in possession of the old notes had stormed the CBN office early in the morning to collect the form to enable them to deposit their money as directed by the CBN.
While they were waiting to be attended to, a Hilux truck, with some officials, which was trying to make its way into the bank premises was prevented from gaining access to the bank by the residents.
However, the situation turned violent as some of them (the residents) attacked the vehicle and the vehicle went back while the police at the entrance of the bank calmed the situation. Two people were feared to have died in the ensuing melee.
This led to the angry protesters attacking virtually all the banks along the Akpkakpkava destroying their ATM points and buildings. Some of the banks affected are Sterling Bank, UBA, GTB, Access, Zenith, Stanbic IBTC and others.
The protest degenerated into a full-fledged violence as angry residents took over the Ring Road (city centre) throwing stones at anything in sight.
At Upper Sakponba, the protesters attacked the United Bank for Africa, destroying a part of the bank as staff scampered for safety.
One middle-aged man died in that area. The Third Junction was also blocked as motorists and a batch of police officers were prevented from entering Upper Sakponba and gaining access into the MM way.
Soldiers and police have been drafted in to restore peace and order in the metropolis as at the time of filing this report.
Also, members of the Edo State Security network also dismantled the roadblocks set up by angry residents in a different part of the city. Vigilantes also joined the security personnel to patrol the streets.
