The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) announced that its operatives at the Gombe zonal command have arrested Mr Zachariyya Muhammad on Saturday, May 25th, 2024 for “abuse of the naira.” “Upon his arrest, he was shown a video where he was dancing and spraying Naira notes in N200 denomination. He admitted to being the one in the video.”“He will be charged to court upon conclusion of investigations.”
Section 21 of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act prohibits the abuse of the naira, including actions such as tampering, stepping on, tearing, spraying, and hawking the currency.
Following this policy, a number of celebrities have also been arrested and sentenced to the Federal high court. Nollywood actress, Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin was sentenced to six months after pleading guilty to spraying and stepping on naira notes at an event. Also, Idris Okuneye aka Bobrisky was sentenced to six months. The option of a fine was refused so he has started serving his time already. We also have the case of Pascal Okechukwu aka Cubana Chief Priest who was charged for spraying the naira notes but pleaded guilty and was granted bail of N10 million with two sureties.
Earlier this month, the EFCC reported that its operatives in Kano secured the convictions of 31 individuals for illegal currency trading and naira abuse.
