EFCC Raids Abuja Bureau De Change Operators, Arrest 50

As efforts to save the country’s plummeting currency continues, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)raided some Bureau de Change businesses in Wuse Zone 4, Abuja on Monday.

According to reports, the anti-graft agency arrested about 50 illegal BDC operators during the raid.

Naija News recalls that In response to the decreasing value of the naira, the EFCC had formed a Special Task Force across its commands to crack down on individuals who were mutilating the naira and dollarising the Nigerian economy.

The EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, had earlier confirmed the development in a statement on Wednesday, February 7, 2024.

“The EFCC has raised a Special Task Force in all its zonal commands for the enforcement of extant laws against currency mutilation and dollarisation of the economy.

“The task force, inaugurated by the Executive Chairman of the commission, Ola Olukoyede, was raised to protect the economy from abuses, leakages, and distortions exposing it to instability and disruption”, the statement read.

However, a Bureau de Change operator, Dayyabu Mistila, who confirmed the search and subsequent arrest to newsmen, disclosed that the operatives claimed the raid was motivated by the rising exchange rate of the dollar and other currencies against the naira on the forex market.

“Around 3 pm on Monday, officers of the EFCC raided Wuse Zone 4 and arrested over 50 of our members. They were complaining that BDC operators are responsible for the rising exchange rate of the dollar at the parallel exchange market ” he said.

A viral video captured the moment when EFCC agents stormed the BDC and fired into the air to disperse the operators who attempted to surround them.