Officials from the Department of State Services, in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps, arrested 14 people, including a woman, in Kano for allegedly illegally selling new naira notes.
The NSCDC State Commandant, Adamu Zakari, revealed this while paradeing the suspects at the NSCDC State Headquarters in Kano on Tuesday evening.
He stated that the suspects were apprehended during a joint operation in the city as part of efforts to stop the illegal act that violated the CBN Act.
“The clampdown on new naira vendors and sellers is based on Section 20 of the CBN Act, which makes it illegal to counterfeit, hawk, sell, or otherwise trade naira notes, coins, or any other note issued by the bank,” he explained.
“Investigations have already begun to determine the origin, if any, of the naira notes recovered from the suspects,” Zakari said.
Alhaji Ubandi Hotoro, 82, Haruna Yahaya, 42, Rabiu Ibrahim, 34, Ismaila Umar, 20, and Nura Aminu, 45, Nasiru Adamu, 40, and Nazef Lawal, 20 were named as suspects.
Sulaiman Tijjani, 35, Mustapha Haruna, 47, Aminu Jibril, 23, Lawal Ibrahim, 40, Abubakar Jibril, 45, Abdullahi Hassan, 30 and Fatima Ibrahim, 30 completed the list.
He stated that the NSCDC, DSS, and CBN would continue to crack down on those who committed the illegal act, which was a punishable offense under the CBN Act.
“For the avoidance of doubt, spraying the naira notes on occasion, soiling and writing on it, squeezing, handling, and counterfeiting of the country currency notes are acts of naira abuse and are punishable by law,” he said.
He stated that the suspects would be charged in court as soon as the investigation was completed.
In an interview, Alhaji Ubandi Hotoro, one of the suspects, stated that nothing incriminating was found on him because he was at a location to settle a dispute between some of the suspects and security agents.
