Naira Redesign: Protesters storm CBN, demand Emefiele’s sack, arrest

Some Nigerians, on Wednesday, stormed the headquarters of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to demand for the resignation and arrest of its governor, Godwin Emefiele, over the redesign of naira notes.

The protesters, who stormed the CBN headquarters with placards, noted that Emefiele had inflicted undue hardship on Nigerians which they said had led to the death of many Nigerians.

The group vowed to occupy the apex bank’s premises until their demands were met.

The inscriptions on the placards included “Emefiele Must Go”; “CBN Now Bureau De Change”; “Emefiele Bring Out The Names of Those You Gave Our Money To”; “Where Is The 500 Billion You Cried on Tape Is Missing?”; “What Happened To Anchor Borrowers Programme and many others?”

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The convener of the protest, George Uboh, while addressing journalists, said: “We are demanding that Godwin Emefiele in his capacity as the Governor of CBN should make available the new naira notes. He must also come out here to address the people because the Supreme Court in its ruling pronounced that the new naira notes policy has caused the Nigerian masses undue hardship.”

According to Uboh, the action of the CBN on the monetary policy was tantamount to genocide, stressing that it was not only guns that could be used to commit genocide.

He further stated that the protest was informed by the Supreme Court judgment directing the CBN to release the new naira notes.

Uboh, who also declared that the policy was “insensitive” under the watch of Emefiele, noted that they had perfected a plan to call for Emefiele’s arrest and prosecution by the International Criminal Court for committing crimes against humanity.

Declaring that it was treasonable to have two legal tender at the same time in a country, he lamented how the policy had crippled small businesses in the country.