Some residents of Enugu State on Wednesday, took to the streets in Enugu metropolis and protested the current scarcity of cash in the state, following the cashless policy introduced by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The residents who decried the non-availability of cash and what they called the exploitation by POS operators also lamented high cost of fuel and transportation.
The apex bank extended the deadline for the expiration of old naira notes to February 10 and Commercial banks were not dispensing the new naira notes. This affected businesses as people had no cash to spend and some mobile transactions failed because of bad network.
A petty trader, in Ogbete market , Emeka Nwosu said that businesses were not moving because of lack of both old and new currencies. He said transportation cost is high. A short distance from Otigba to WTC is N200, from Abakps to old park is N200 while very short distance is N100.
“The siituation is bad. POS operators don’t have money to transact their businesses. The crowd at ATM points is too much. There is no money for people to take care of themselves and their families.
A POS operator, Livinus Eneh, who resides at Nsude,in Udi Local Government Area of the state, said that he came to Enugu to withdraw some cash ,for his business anbpd could not get. “I had no money to give to my customers.
“Yesterday, I spent a whole day in the bank only to get N20,000 . The money did not go anywhere. It finished shortly after I arrived my shop
“It is a serious problem. I am planning to lock the shop an wait till when I got money ” he said..
A resident, Chidi Nwamba said he went to ATM points to withdraw money but could not get
‘I went to withdraw across the counter.and I was given only N2,500 of N5 note. he said.
He said some POS operators took advantage of the situation to demand for higher charges.
Some charge as high as 10 -20 per cent commission on each withdrawal.
“I went to withdraw money and paid N2,000 charges on N10,000. I wonder what is happening in Nigeria,” he said
A POS operator, Chizaram Nwabuto said that the reason for the high commission was due to the process of getting the cash from the banks.
“It is not easy to get the cash out of the bank. We stayed long in the bank and ATM points to get the money. It’s not easy”.