2023: Panic as Protesters Raze Banks, INEC, IBEDC Offices in Lagos

Angry protesters stormed major streets of Sagamu, Ogun State, to express their frustration and displeasure over the hardship experienced as a result of the scarcity of naira notes on Monday.

The protesting youths barricaded the Ijebu-Ode/Sagamu Interchange section of the Lagos-Sagamu-Benin Expressway with bonfires, leading to traffic gridlock which left hundreds of travellers stranded for hours.

The protesters also torched two banks and the offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) and set ablaze equipment such as computers, TV sets, furniture, industrial generator, among others. They also vandalized the Sagamu LGA Secretariat office.

The two banks burnt were branches of Keystone Bank and Union Bank located at Ijoku Area while other banks were also attacked.

It was gathered the protest began in front of the Palace of the Akarigbo of Remoland, Oba Babatunde Ajayi and later spread to other parts of the town. But a youth leader, Kayode Segun-Okeowo, described the act as a motivated destruction and not a protest.

I’m a comrade and understand the ABC of protest. It’s motivated to cause destruction. Those behind this must stop,” he said in a telephone interview.