The Ogun State Police Command says it has arrested five persons in different parts of the state for allegedly hawking naira notes. According to the command, the suspects, namely; Toyin Alegbe, Kehinde Akinbode, Shoneye Latifat, Kehinde Olanrewaju and Iyanuoluwa Shokunbi, would soon be charged to court.
The police report indicated that they were arrested in Ijebu Ode, Sagamu and Abeokuta during sting operations jointly carried out by the operatives of the command and officials of Central Bank of Nigeria on Thursday. The state Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the operation was in line with the provisions of Section 21(1) of the CBN Act 2007 which made hawking, selling and abuse of naira a punishable offence.
He said various denominations of naira notes totalling N1,560,000 were recovered from the suspects who were publicly exhibiting their illicit trade. Meanwhile, the state Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, has directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the state Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Aminu Alhassan, to commence a full-scale investigation into the activities of the currency hawkers. Iliyasu equally warned members of the public to desist from any act capable of soiling, or destroying the naira ‘which is one of the symbols of our national identity. ”
