Connect with us
Advertisement

Gist

Police Arrest Fourteen In Kwara State For Trading In Naira Notes

Published

on

Advertisement

Fourteen suspects were on Saturday arrested by the Nigerian Police Force in Kwara State for allegedly trading in Naira currency.

The suspects were apprehended at various locations in Ilorin, the state capital, while engaging in the buying and selling of different denominations of naira notes.

The Public Relations Officer, Ajayi Okasanmi, while parading the suspects at the police headquarter, stated that they were arrested for trading in the naira.

Advertisement

The Nigeria Police, in conjunction with the Central Bank of Nigeria, acted on actionable intelligence that some individuals and groups of people were trading in naira notes issued by the CBN contrary to sections 20 and 21 of the CBN Act, which make the trading in the currency a punishable offence,” Okasanmi stated.

Okasanmi, said the suspects were apprehended in various locations by men of the command, while huge sums of money in various denominations were recovered from them.

He claimed that investigation is currently going on to ascertain the sources of the naira notes, while the suspects would be charged to court at the end of the investigation.

Advertisement

He took the opportunity to call on member of the public to stop abusing the naira, which he described as one of the symbols of the country’s identity.

Okasanmi stated, “The Nigeria Police and the CBN will continue to clamp down on the perpetrators of this offence, which is punishable by law.

“The general public is warned that spraying naira notes at parties, soiling, writing on the naira, squeezing and all other abuse of the Nigerian currency constitute an offence.

Advertisement
Advertisement

One of the suspects, Adebayo Kazeem, who claimed to be an apprentice, said he was arrested at his master’s shop at Oja Tuntun in Babaoko area of Ilorin, where he was selling different denominations of naira notes to those who had social engagements at the weekend.

Kazeem said his master and the proprietor of the printing press, where he was arrested, claimed that he did not know that selling of naira notes was an offence.