By Adedapo Adesanya
A United Bank of Africa (UBA) branch in the Abule Egba area of Lagos and a First Bank branch in Ibafo, on the outskirts of the state, have been targeted by protesters, who are reacting to Nigeria’s cash crunch, Business Post reports.
On Friday morning in the Abule Egba area of Lagos, witnesses told this newspaper that places, including Super and Ile-Epo, saw spates of attacks while the UBA in the popular U-Turn after Abule-Egba faced an attack. It could not be verified independently at this time.
“I was trying to work on some issues in my account and I heard they’ve closed because the staff was told to close on time. We had not finished talking when people started running after we heard gunshots.
“The main intention was to destroy that bank or destroy something; even cars had to start turning back,” a witness identified as Precious told this reporter.
Another witness in Ibafo, who wanted anonymity, said a First Bank branch in the town was being burnt down.
In her words, “Ibafo bus-stop sha and they burnt First Bank.
“It is because of this redesign… They wanted to move to Access Bank and UBA, but the police came. It is calm now.”
Civil unrest has been reported earlier in the day, with the Nigerian Police Force stepping in to quell riots in the areas of Ojota, Ketu, and Mile 12.
Social media trends also show that Iwo road in Ibadan, Oyo state; Ifo town in Ogun state; Alakuko alongside Abeokuta expressway, Lagos; and Joju, Sango-Otta in Ogun similarly faced unrest.
Meanwhile, Zenith Bank and UBA in Epe were attacked, while Access Bank has ordered the closing down of its branches.
Dipo Olowookere 
Modupe Gbadeyanka 
Aduragbemi Omiyale