Protests hit Lagos over cash crisis

Police fired teargas to disperse angry protesters in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos, police and residents said, shutting businesses and blocking roads to demonstrate against banknote scarcities.

Nigeria has been struggling with a shortage of hard cash since the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) began to swap old bills of the local naira currency for new, re-designed ones, leading to a shortfall in banknotes. 

The cash scarcity has triggered protests in major cities as angry customers attacked banks and barricaded roads in unrest just days before Nigeria held a presidential election.

President Muhammadu Buhari in broadcast sought to ease the scarcity by allowing old 200 naira bills to circulate until April 10. Old 500 and 1,000 notes were no longer legal tender.

Lagos traders, markets, transporters and petrol stations started to reject the old notes, sparking riots in parts of the megalopolis of over 20 million people.

At Ojota, close to the busy Mile 12 food market, a crowd of protesters gathered as early as 7am and set fire to used tyres to block the popular Ikorodu road. Many motorists were stranded.

Police were quickly deployed to clear crowds in the area, an epicentre for popular unrest.

Those protests were the latest to hit Africa's most populous nation over the cash shortages, which are raising tensions before the February 25 ballot to elect the successor to Buhari.