At least 12 female currency vendors have been arrested by men of Rivers State Command of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) over alleged illicit sale of naira notes.
The suspects who were arrested during a raid supervised by the Commandant of NSCDC in the state, Muktar Lawal, were paraded on Friday in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
Parading the suspects at NSCDC headquarters on Olu Obasanjo Road, Port Harcourt, Lawal said the arrest was carried out in collaboration on September 12, 2019, in collaboration with the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in order to forestall the illicit sale of the country’s currency notes.
“The clampdown on the naira vendors and sellers is hinged on the CBN’s Act, Sections 20 and 21, which make it a punishable offence for any individual or group of persons to hawk, sell or otherwise trade in the naira notes, coins or any note issued by the CBN.
“The twelve suspects were arrested on the grounds of economic crime of national security, bordering on hawking of new Nigeria currency around Garrison Bus Stop, Rumukwurushi and Rumuodara, all in Port Harcourt.
“A total N1, 047,555, consisting of various denominations, was recovered from the suspects.
Investigations have already commenced on the matter, to ascertain the sources of the naira notes.”
The commandant also assured that NSCDC and the CBN would continue the clamp down on the perpetrators of the offence, which he said was punishable under the CBN Act 2007 to a jail term of not less than six months or to a fine of not less than N50, 000 or both.
He hinted that the suspects would be charged to court, as soon as investigations were concluded.
He said: “For the avoidance of doubt, acts of spraying the naira notes at occasions, soiling and writing on the naira, squeezing the naira, hawking and selling of the country’s currency notes are abuses of the naira and are punishable by law.”