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Violent protest rocked Sagamu, Ogun State, on Monday morning as angry youths burnt down branches of Union and Keystone banks in the town.
The protest attributed to the naira scarcity had begun in front of the palace of the Akarigbo of Remoland, Oba Babatunde Ajayi, with some youths barricading roads and setting bonfire.
However, a youth leader in the town, Kayode Segun-Okeowo, described the act as a “motivated destruction and not a protest.”
“This is not a protest. I’m a comrade and understand the ABC of protest. It is motivated to cause destruction. Those behind this must stop,” he told Daily Trust in a telephone interview.
He also confirmed that two commercial banks were set on fire.
On Sunday, the Police Command alleged that some individuals were planning to cause a breach of public peace in the State by taking undue advantage of the lingering cash and fuel scarcity in the nation.
The command said it had an intelligence report that those planning the mayhem may attack banks and other public and private infrastructures in the State.
The police spokesman in Ogun, Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed this to newsmen in Abeokuta on Sunday.
He revealed that the Commissioner of Police, Frank Mba, spoke at a confidence-building patrol conducted by the police and other security forces on Saturday.
Oyeyemi said Mba, who commended the residents of the State for their resilience and peaceful conduct in the face of the biting economic challenges, assured residents of the command’s resolve to protect lives and property.
The CP further noted that intelligence at the disposal of the Command indicates that some criminal elements are planning to take advantage of the challenging economic situation to disrupt the peace being enjoyed in the State,” Oyeyemi said.
He said the CP warned that the police would not fold its arms and allow criminals to hide under any guise “to unleash mayhem on residents, private and public property, and critical national infrastructure, including banks and offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).”
