Passengers Beat Conductor over Old Currency

A mild drama occurred yesterday at Wuse, Zone 6 bus stop Abuja, when two passengers in a commercial bus beat up a conductor for refusing to collect N50 non-polymer notes as transport fares.

A witness said the passengers boarded the 18-seater bus from Bwari to Abuja but had problems at the Kubwa express way, when the conductor asked the passengers to pay their transport fares and two passengers brought out old N50 notes for payment.

‘’ The conductor immediately told passengers that the non polymer currencies of N50, N10 and N5 are no longer collected and he will not accept the notes,” the witness said.

He stated that two passengers insisted on paying with the old N50 notes and said they argued that the notes were still legal tenders in the country but the conductor ignored them until it was time for them to alight from the bus.

‘’ As they alighted from the bus, the conductor grabbed one of them on the shirt and in the process, the other passenger slapped the conductor,” the witness said. 

Our Reporter learnt that it took the intervention of some police men to stop the fight and settle the matter before the bus continued on its journey.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has cancelled the March 31 deadline for the withdrawal of the non polymer notes.

Although some residents said they were not aware of the CBN new directives, others said they heard about it on news yesterday and said such decision is commendable.

Mr. Isiaka Ayodele, a civil servant, commended the CBN for such decision but appealed to the apex bank to mount enough enlightment campaigns on the new directives so that everyone in the country can be carried along.