Ahead of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) cashless policy deadline, members of the suspected Islamic State of West Africa Province, ISWAP, have reportedly distributed large sums of old naira notes to commuters in the Lake Chad Basin.
The incident occurred on Saturday in the Guzamala Local Government Area of Borno State, after Mairari village, along the Maiduguri/Monguno highway, according to the Daily Trust.
President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled redesigned N200, N500, and N1000 notes on November 23, 2022, and the CBN immediately set January 31 as the date for the old notes to expire.
The apex bank extended the deadline for the exchange of old naira notes at commercial banks by ten days on Sunday.
The naira redesign is thought to be aimed at preventing vote buying in the 2023 general election, which is scheduled for February 25 and March 11.
On Saturday, some ISWAP members were said to have driven two gun trucks while dressed in military camouflage and distributed massive amounts of old notes to scores of commuters.
Bakura Ibrahim, a local, said the insurgents positioned themselves under a tree and stood by the roadside with bags of old naira notes.
“We left Monguno at about 12 noon. As we approached Mairari, there were no existing checkpoints in the area; we were apprehensive.
“They stopped us and asked if we were going to Maiduguri, then they started giving each person 100,000 old naira notes, but we could not believe it. They gave each occupant of the Golf Volkswagen,” Bakura said.
Another source added, “The group simply told us, “If you think you can go to their banks and change it to new naira, go and do so; may Allah make it beneficial to you.”