CBN Begins Arrest of Nigerians Selling New Naira Notes at Weddings, Other Event Centres, Lists Punishments
- Nigerians who sell Naira notes on the streets, at weddings and at other events are set to face harsh penalties from CBN and other security agents
- Already, 14 people, including a woman, have been arrested in Kano and are expected to face charges
- Many Nigerians will be surprised by the arrest because buying new notes to display wealth at events is common practice
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The Central Bank of Nigeria, alongside other security agencies, have intensified efforts to arrest Nigerians selling new Naira notes.
Already Officials of the Department of State Services, in conjunction with CBN, and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps, have arrested 14 persons, including a lady.
Those arrested were charged with illegally selling new naira notes in the streets of Kano state, ThisDay reports.
Source: Getty Images
Thes state commandant of the NSCDC, Adamu Zakari, disclosed this while parading the suspects at the NSCDC State Headquarters in Kano.
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He said the suspects were apprehended during a joint operation in the metropolis as part of efforts to check the illegal act, which contravened the CBN Act.
“The clamp down on the new naira vendors and sellers is hinged on the CBN Act, Section 20 to counterfeit, hawk, sell or otherwise trade the naira notes, coins or any other note issued by the bank.
“Investigations have already commenced to ascertain the source or otherwise of the naira notes recovered from the suspects."
Zakari listed the suspects as:
"Alhaji Ubandi Hotoro,82, Haruna Yahaya, 42, Rabiu Ibrahim, 34, Ismaila Umar, 20, and Nura Aminu, 45, Nasiru Adamu, 40 and Nazef Lawal, 20.
"Others were Sulaiman Tijjani, 35, Mustapha Haruna, 47, Aminu Jibril, 23, Lawal Ibrahim, 40, Abubakar Jibril, 45, Abdullahi Hassan, 30 and Fatima Ibrahim, 30."
The Punch also reports that Zakari said the NSCDC, the DSS and the CBN would continue to clamp down on the perpetrators of the illegal act, which was a punishable offence under the CBN Act.
other offences he stated are:
“For the avoidance of doubt, act of spraying the naira notes at occasions, soiling and writing on it, squeezing, handling as well as counterfeit of the country currency notes are abuse of the naira and are punishable by the law.”
What CBN law says, and what penalty
Checks by Legit.ng on CBN 2007 act revealed that there are penalties for selling new Naira notes.
Part of the CBN act reads:
"It shall also be an offence punishable under Sub-section (1) of this section for any person to hawk, sell or otherwise trade in the Naira notes, coins or any other note issued by the Bank.
"With or trading in issued by the Bank is guilty of an offence and shall on notes and coins imprisonment for a term, not less than six months or to a fine, not less than N50,000 or to both such fine and imprisonment."
Zenith, Gtbank lead list of Nigeria's most valuable banks
Meanwhile, an earlier report by Legit.ng showed Zenith Bank kicked off 2022 as Nigeria's most valuable commercial bank.
Guaranty Trust Bank is the second most valuable bank, followed by Stanbic IBTC Holdings to round out the top three most valuable banks.
In addition, the aggregate market cap of all the banks under review increased by N46.6 billion to N3.84 trillion.
Source: Legit.ng
