By Henry Oqua
The Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki has stated that from tomorrow, Thursday, February 16, Point of Sale (PoS) operators in markets across the State will begin to receive cash for disbursement to residents as part of efforts to reduce the suffering being faced by Edo residents.
Rising from an emergency State Security Council meeting late Wednesday, February 15, 2023, the Governor noted that the scarcity of the redesigned Naira notes led to protests across Benin City that were hijacked by street urchins and fifth columnists who destroyed government, private and banking assets.
He said that the State Government will continue to do all within its powers to reduce the sufferings of Edo residents caused by the shortage of the new Naira notes, urging residents to be vigilant and resist falling into the hands of persons looking to satisfy their selfish gains.
“We must point out that from what happened today, we can tell clearly that the people who undertook the damaging of banks and banking assets were not depositors, many of them were street urchins and what we call area boys.” he said.
Mr Obaseki explained that the government is concerned and sad because of the protests, describing the situation as a culmination of the sufferings being expressed by Edo residents and Nigerians across the country, adding that: “We are also putting pressure on the Central Bank to make sure that they release cash to the citizens, and they have requested us to provide them security for them to do so.
“Part of the plan is that the security agencies will provide support to the disbursement of cash through POS operators across our markets, and as soon as we can restore safety and sanity to the banks, then the banks will open to disburse cash to our citizens,” he said.
Accompanied by State Security Commanders and top government officials, Mr Obaseki called for calm among Edo residents, emphasizing that “We have resolved that we must restore security to the state and our banking institutions. Security men have been deployed and will remain in those banking premises to keep the calm.
“I want to assure the people of Edo State that we feel the pain of our people and as a government, we will continue to do all we can within our powers to reduce the suffering s which our people are going through.” he concluded.
