As part of ongoing efforts to rid the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market of currency speculators, operatives of the Enugu Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), have arrested 115 suspected currency racketeers in Enugu State.
They were arrested by the EFCC in conjunction with a Joint Task Force comprising five teams from the Nigeria Police Force and three teams from the Nigeria Customs Service on Wednesday, February 21, 2024.
The Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale who disclosed the arrest in a statement on Thursday, February 22, 2024, said, the suspects comprising 113 (One hundred and thirteen) males and two females were arrested in a sting operation at Owerri Road, Ogui, Enugu State, following credible intelligence about some bureau de change operators, currency speculators and street hawkers operating illegal foreign exchange markets in that environment.
According to him, the following Items were recovered from them: N110, 700,000.00 ( One Hundred and Ten Thousand, Seven Hundred Naira only), $8,368.00( Eight Thousand, Three Hundred and Sixty Eight United States Dollars), £145.00( One Hundred and Forty-Five Pounds), €2,725( Two Thousand, Seven Hundred Twenty-Five Euros), 900 South African Rands, 32,000.00 CFA, 100 Turkiya, and 500 Bank Mozambique currencies in different denominations. A safe abandoned by one of the street hawkers were also recovered.
He noted that preliminary investigation showed that some of the suspects were foreigners from Niger Republic, adding, that they would soon be charged to court.
