Several enraged teenagers have set fire to commercial banks in three Nigerian towns due to a lack of fresh 200, 500, and 1000 naira notes.
The youths smashed bank ATMs and barricaded some city streets to protest cash shortages only days before the country's parliamentary elections.
Nigeria has been grappling with a deficit of physical cash since the central bank began to replace old bills of the native naira currency with new ones, resulting in a shortfall in banknotes.
Due to a lack of fresh notes, banks have limited access to cash for withdrawals, and some companies refuse to take old naira, generating long lines, angering consumers, and disrupting operations.
"There were pockets of protest this morning by some aggrieved bank customers. Major roads were blocked while banks, shops, and other businesses were shut. The protesters made bonfires of used tires to disrupt traffic and movements", sources reveal.