Three people were found guilty and given varying prison sentences by the Federal High Court in Ilorin, Kwara State, on Tuesday for engaging in naira racketeering by selling the currency to generate profits.
Judge Evelyn Anyadike imprisoned the three convicts, Asmau Wuraola, Owoduni Abdullahi Isa, and Shuaibu Rukayat.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arranged them.The Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007’s Section 21(4) was allegedly broken by the convicts on February 17 when they “did trade in naira notes issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria,” according to the EFCC.
According to the prosecution, the defendants could face penalties under Section 21 (1) of the aforementioned Act.
The accused entered a guilty plea to the allegations.Naira notes were found on the prisoners, according to EFCC prosecutor Innocent Mbachie, who was going over the case’s facts.
Judge Anyadike found the defendants guilty and sentenced them to varying lengths of imprisonment in her verdict.
The judge ruled that Wuraola’s N1,020,000 recovery should be forfeited to the federal government and sentenced her to two months in prison with the possibility of a fine of N50,000.
The judge also mandated that the EFCC destroy the point-of-sale (POS) machine that had been taken from her.Isa, on the other hand, received a sentence of six months in prison and a N50,000 fine, with the option to forfeit the N150,000 that was recovered from him to the Federal Government.
Rukayat was also given a six-month prison sentence and a N50,000 fine by the judge.
The N200,000 that was taken from him would also be forfeited to the federal government.To stop Naira’s free fall, the Federal Government has recently started to crack down on illicit currency dealers.
Two illegal Bureau de Change operators were imprisoned by a Kano court last week, and sixteen more were placed under remand in a Port Harcourt prison.
Nineteen BDC operators were brought before the Lagos Federal High Court on Monday by the police to be arraigned.
Nonetheless, the police abruptly withdrew the charges.