Warri, Delta State, was under tension as protests rocked the city forcing banks to abruptly shut down operations.

The protesters besieged the entrance of the United Bank for Africa and Union Bank for Africa located near Main Market, Warri, as they burnt tyres along the ever-busy roads to register their frustration, causing heavy gridlock.

The protesters, mainly market women, youths and elders had barricaded major roads in protest over the hardship caused by the scarcity of the new naira notes as well as the hike in petrol prices.

Some of the roads barricaded include the Warri-Sapele Road and NPA Expressway. The protesters marched to the Delta State Rainbow Television, Edjeba, to register their grievances.

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The peaceful protesters, bearing placards and chanting “our fish dey spoil, our food dey rotten,” said they found it difficult to make withdrawals from their bank accounts.

They said they were unable to sell their goods in the past few days due to the cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the scarcity of the redesigned naira notes.

A customer slumped and died after standing in a queue for long hours at a bank in Agbor, Delta State.

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According to the Tribune on Friday, the yet-to-be-identified man died after waiting for hours on end to collect his Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card at the bank’s branch in Ika South Local Government Area, Delta State.

Confirming his death, the state’s Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Bright Edafe, said, “He was not trying to withdraw cash as claimed; however, he came to the said bank to collect his ATM card.”

The Enugu State Police Command arrested two suspects, Joseph Chinenye, 39, and Onyeka Kenneth Ezeja, 29, allegedly for possessing, transacting and selling counterfeit notes of the newly redesigned naira.

A statement issued on Friday by the command’s spokesperson, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, said the suspects, who reside at Iheakpu-Awka in Igbo-Eze South and Onicha Enugu-Ezike in Igbo-Eze North local government areas of the state, were caught with 180 pieces of the newly redesigned N1,000 notes which are counterfeit.

Ndukwe revealed that preliminary investigation showed that the notes, which were in three separate batches, “bear the same serial numbers of A/34:282656, A/46:578759 and 8/93:852942,” while the suspects claimed to have secured the fake notes from an unidentified woman in Benin, Edo State.

“In addition, they confessed to attempting to sell the notes to a POS operator, who rejected them, before [police] operatives arrested them at a filling station in Ibagwa-Aka community of Igbo-Eze LGA, where they used the notes to purchase petrol,” he stated.

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The Police Public Relations Officer affirmed that the suspects would be arraigned in court once investigation is concluded by the state CID.

The statement reassured the public of the commitment of the Police to fish out criminal elements perpetrating such acts of economic sabotage and ensure that they are brought to book.