Four persons have been arrested by the Police in Kaduna, accused of illicit trading in naira notes.
The Commissioner of Police (CP) in Kaduna State, Mr Aji Ali Janga, made the disclosure at a press briefing in Kaduna on Monday.
Janga was represented by the command’s Deputy Commissioner, Administration, Mr Onah Sunny.
The CP said the suspects were arrested during a joint operation on June 14, involving officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and DSS. According to him, the sting operation aims at forestalling illicit sales of the country’s currency notes.
“The clampdown on the Naira vendors and sellers is hinged on the CBN’s Act of 2007, Sections 20 and 21. This Act makes it a punishable offense for any individual or group of people to hawk, sell or otherwise trade in Naira notes, coins or any note, issued by the CBN.
“The operation was very successful, as four suspects, were arrested at various locations in the state during the raid supervised by the Command CP,” he said.
He disclosed that a total of N798,000 in various denominations and other exhibits were recovered from the suspects.
Janga said that investigation had already commenced on the matter to ascertain the source of the Naira notes, adding that the police and CBN would continue the clampdown on the perpetrators.
The Commissionerassured that those arrested would be prosecuted after investigation. “For the avoidance of doubt, acts of spraying the Naira notes at occasions, soiling and writing on the Naira, and squeezing of the Naira are abuses of the Naira. Other forms of abuse of the Naira, include hawking and selling, and all are punishable by law.” he said
Janga appealed to the general public to desist from any of these acts and promptly report to the nearest security agency, any person seen doing so.
