Proceedings at the distribution of the Federal Government’s ‘Trader Moni’ loan came to an abrupt end on Tuesday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, as some hoodlums stormed the Lafenwa Market, venue of the programme, to disrupt it.
The Trader Moni scheme is a Federal Government social intervention programme which provides interest-free loans of N10,000 at the first instance to micro enterprises across the country.
The programme was, however, disrupted by hoodlums suspected to be political thugs who whisked away the market’s woman leader to an unknown place after dispersing the traders.
Some of the market women who spoke at the venue expressed disappointment at the development.
A pepper seller, who simply identified herself as Morenikeji, said that the Chairman of Abeokuta North-West Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Monsuru Shorunke, led those who chased away the market men and women before they eventually took away the market woman leader. But when contacted, Shorunke confirmed in a telephone interview that he led some people to Lafenwa to disperse a gathering where some politicians were giving money to market women in exchange for their Permanent Voters Cards. “I was in front of the governor (Ibikunle Amosun) when we heard that some people came to Lafenwa market to collect PVCs from traders with their names and PVC numbers.
“The governor said we should go out and find out.
” It was Governor Amosun that sent us. I was in front of the governor when we heard the information.
“So, I collected Iyaloja’s phone number from Akintona. We took Iyaloja to the governor’s house along with Babaloja of Lafenwa. “We believe it was wrong for them to come and collect people’s PVCs with numbers before election day. That was what they came to do at Lafenwa.
“My message is that we should be vigilant, not only the electorate, but all the politicians in Ogun State.
We must be vigilant. They want to give them money because of the coming election and it is wrong,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has injected $210 million into the various segments of the market to sustain its intervention in the Inter-Bank Foreign Exchange Market.
Mr Isaac Okorafor, CBN Director, Corporate Communications, made this known in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.
Okorafor said that the apex bank offered $100 million as wholesale interventions and allocated $55 million to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
He said that another $55 million was allocated to customers requiring foreign exchange for business and personal travels, tuition or medical fees.
The CBN director explained that the Tuesday’s interventions were in continuation of the bank’s resolve to sustain the high level of stability in the foreign exchange market.
According to him, it is also to continue to ease access to the foreign currency by customers in different sectors.
Okorafor said the CBN was optimistic that the Naira would sustain its run against the dollar and other major currencies around the world, considering the level of transparency in the market.
Meanwhile, despite election related activities, the Naira continued to maintain its stability in the foreign exchange market, exchanging at an average of N356 to a dollar at the Bureau de Change segment.