The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has reported a successful crackdown on illegal currency traders, according to a document commissioned by EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, and obtained by a journalist on Tuesday.
The document, titled “EFCC Alert,” highlights the achievements of the EFCC’s Special Task Force established in February 2024. EFCC Chairman Olukoyede praised the task force’s “hard work and dedication,” pointing to “23 convictions for currency racketeering and operation of illegal BDCs” secured in less than a month.
Olukoyede provided a breakdown of the convictions, revealing that “Eleven of the convictions were recorded in Kano alone; three in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, five in Lagos, one in Port Harcourt and three in Kaduna.”
The document also stated that “Currently facing prosecution for the same offenses are 170 suspects, spread across just eight zonal offices of Kano, Ibadan, Enugu, Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Uyo and Maiduguri.”
The document detailed a successful sting operation conducted in Enugu, where EFCC operatives apprehended “116 suspects, comprising a mix of illegal Bureau de Change operators, currency speculators and street hawkers operating illegal foreign exchange markets.”
The operation resulted in the recovery of a significant amount of cash: “N110, 700,000.00, $8,368.00, £145.00, €2,725; 900 South African Rand; 32,000.00 CFA; 100 Turkiya; and 500 Bank Mozambique currencies in different denominations.” The document also noted the discovery of “an abandoned safe by currency street hawkers.”
The document revealed that “Some of the suspects are foreigners from neighbouring countries.” It further highlighted a history of lax enforcement regarding “denominating service charges and prices in currencies other than the naira, as well as naira mutilation and offering it for sale” which are all illegal activities in Nigeria. The document credited the current Chairman Olukoyede for “taking up the gauntlet” to address these issues.
