12 women arrested as police swoop on naira notes vendors, bankers

The Lagos State Police Command, in conjunction with Central Bank of Nigeria, has arrested 12 women for selling naira notes.

The women were said to have been arrested in different parts of Lagos State. These women sell mint naira notes to people going to parties to spray celebrates.

They were arrested during a raid by officials of CBN and operatives of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) Panti-Yaba.

The suspects are likely to be charged to court for contravening contravenes Section 21 of the CBN Act, 2007.

Among the suspect were Fausat Jimoh, Bisoye Oyegbile, Balikis Ajadi, Bisola Amoru, Abidemi Oladejo and Ajoke Suraj, all women, alleged to have sold mint notes at social events.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) in charge of State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Salami, said six others were arrested penultimate weekend.

Salami said: "We are clamping down on those abusing our currency. It’s 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's what we are guiding against. The CBN is out to enforce the law and we would give them the necessary backings."

An official of the CBN, who refused to be mentioned, said that CBN was targeting its workers and Deposit Money Banks (DMB), as those fueling the illegal trade.

He also said that CBN would clampdown on celebrants in venues where naira merchants are found.

His words: "We know that these are not the real targets because if they don't get the mint notes, they won't be able to sell it. So, our main targets are commercial banks and even our staff who release this money to these vendors. Once these suspects confess and mention their names, we would go after them. We are also going to start arresting Nigerians who organize events and allow those selling naira notes in their venues. Already, we have started arresting people who spray money at social events. Sanity must return to our system and our currency must be respected."

One of the women, Agadi, said low patronage of her hair dressing business pushed her into it. She claimed that she usually made N200 on each bundle of mint notes.

Another suspect, Oyegbile, said that N37, 500 was collected from her, an amount higher than the total recovery for Friday stated by the police. She claimed that the law enforcers usually steal some of their money each time they come after them.

Oyegbile disclosed that one Abdulahi usually supplies her. She said that her colleagues get the money from banks.