Three Kwara naira racketeers jailed, forfeit N1.3m

The Federal High Court in Ilorin, Kwara State, on Tuesday, convicted and sentenced three persons to various jail terms for engaging in naira racketeering by selling the currency to make gains.

The convicts, Asmau Wuraola, Owoduni Abdullahi Isa, and Shuaibu Rukayat, were jailed by Justice Evelyn Anyadike.

They were arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The EFCC alleged that the convicts on February 17 “did trade in naira notes issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 21 (4) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007.”

The prosecution said the defendants were liable to punishment under Section 21 (1) of the same Act.

The defendants pleaded guilty to the charges.

While reviewing the facts of the case, the EFCC prosecutor, Innocent Mbachie, said naira notes were recovered from the convicts.

Delivering judgment, Justice Anyadike pronounced the defendants guilty and sentenced them to various jail terms.

The judge sentenced Wuraola to two months imprisonment with an option of fine of N50,000 while she ordered that the sum of N1,020,000 recovered from the her be forfeited to the Federal Government.

Furthermore, the judge ordered the EFCC to destroy the POS machine recovered from her.

Isa, on the other hand, was sentenced to six months imprisonment with an option of fine of N50,000 while the sum of N150,000 recovered from him be forfeited to the Federal Government.

The judge also sentenced Rukayat to six months imprisonment with an option of a fine of N50,000 while the sum of N200,000 recovered from him be forfeited to the Federal Government.

The Federal Government has in recent times begun a clampdown on illegal currency dealers in a bid to arrest the free fall of the naira.

Last week, a Kano court jailed two illegal Bureau de Change operators while 16 others were remanded in prison in Port Harcourt.

On Monday, the police in Lagos took 19 BDC operators before the Federal High Court in Lagos for arraignment. The charges were, however, withdrawn by the police at the last minute.