Six women were arrested by the police in conjunction with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), for allegedly selling mint naira notes in Lagos. The women were allegedly selling the notes to people going to parties to ‘spray’ against CBN Act in 2007.
The suspects-Fausat Jimoh, Bisoye Oyegbile, Balikis Ajadi, Bisola Amoru, Abidemi Oladejo and Ajoke Suraj are likely to be charged for contravening Section 21 of the CBN Act, 2007.
They were apprehended during a raid by officials of the CBN and operatives of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Panti, Yaba.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) in charge of SCIID, Bolaji Salami, confirming their arrest, said it was an abuse of currency and offenders will be charged to court soon.
He said: “We are clamping down on those abusing our currency. It is an offence to sell naira notes at weddings or any gathering. It contravenes the CBN Act.
“We arrested six suspects the previous weekend and later arrested six others on Friday.We recovered N35,500 from these suspects but N465,000 was recovered from those arrested last week.
“They would be charged to court as soon as possible. Investigation would reveal how these suspects come about these new currencies. We are going to get to the root of it because the offence is punishable by N50,000 fine, or six months imprisonment or both.
“No good country would allow its currency to be abused in anyway. That is what we are guiding against. The CBN is out to enforce the law and we would give them the necessary backing.”
