The management of Bankers Warehouse yesterday urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to release the $2.8 million cash and its employees arrested at Enugu Airport last Thursday.
Bankers Warehouse is a company registered by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to carry out cash movement as well as currency processing.
In a statement titled: “Interception of $2.8 million at Enugu Airport by EFCC”, the company said the cash was seized and its employees were arrested while carrying out legitimate business of cash movement for one of its banker clients.
It said the employees were arrested, interrogated and detained at Enugu Airport by the EFCC while carrying out cash movement of its clients from its Onitsha branch to Lagos in spite of providing identification details.
The statement read: “We hereby state emphatically that the movement of this currency was a legitimate exercise, being carried out on behalf of a legitimate financial institution. We emphasise that our employees are in no way criminals, carrying out any act of illegality as the EFCC has tried to portray. The young men whose character and reputation have been deliberately soiled by the EFCC operatives were conducting their legitimate duties as requested by a bank customer of our company.
“We request for the swift and immediate release of our employees and our customer’s currency, both detained without proper cause. We also demand an immediate retraction by the EFCC and an apology issued to our company and our employees, whose images have been maligned. Our client, who has been unfairly exposed and accused of implied illegality, and whose money is still being improperly held by the EFCC operatives, deserve a very special apology for the disclosure of their business and damage done to their image.”