BREAKING: Armed Police, Others Raid Ibadan Bureaux De Change Hub Over Free Fall Of Naira
Some Nigerian security operatives on Wednesday went after the Bureau De Change operators in the Sabo area of Ibadan.
Sabo in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital in Southwest Nigeria, is the hub of bureaux de change in the state.
The operatives include officials of police and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission personnel.
A video posted by Oyo Affairs on its X handle, on Wednesday, shows tens of armed security personnel and their convoy of vehicles slowly moving on the popular Sabo Road in Ibadan.
“These people are idiots; they are just arresting people anyhow,” a voice said in the video.
President Bola Tinubu’s administration has launched a nationwide clampdown on persons involved in currency racketeering following the free fall of the naira.
Nigeria’s naira on Wednesday dropped to a record low against the dollar on the official market.
Ibom Focus learnt that the naira now exchanged for N1980 to $1 on the parallel market and N1780 on the official market as the swift decline continued amid the government’s clampdown on currency speculators.
Ibom Focus earlier reported how Nigerian security operatives including EFCC officials on Wednesday raided some Bureau De Change outlets in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and arrested over 100 operators as the country’s currency slipped further.
“The situation (of arresting BDC operators) has not helped either because the official rate has also reached N1780. Naira is still crashing,” a source familiar with the arrest said.
“Dollar reached N1980 to $1 today, prompting the Nigerian government to raid BDCs in Abuja to arrest over 100 BDC operators.”
On Tuesday, the naira slid further with one dollar exchanging for 1,900 in Abuja and Kano, and N1,800 in Lagos; while the British Pound was exchanged for N2,250.
Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency, the EFCC had been raiding BDC hubs in Abuja, Port Harcourt, Lagos and Kano. Some operators were also arrested but it has not stopped the naira from further depreciation.
The National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu on Tuesday, directed operatives of the Nigeria Police Force, the EFCC, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) to go after forex market speculators as part of measures to stem volatility in the foreign exchange market.
Ribadu, in a statement by Zakari Mijinyawa, Head, Strategic Communications in the Office of the NSA, said the office had to wade in at this time because some individuals and organisations had continued to undermine proactive measures of the Central Bank of Nigeria to stabilise the foreign exchange market and stimulate economic activities.
Acting on the NSA’s directive, the security operatives swooped on BDC operators on the streets of Lagos, Abuja and Kano yesterday to raid unlicensed BDC operators.
It was reported On Monday that EFCC operatives violently clashed with BDC operators in Wuse Zone 4, Abuja, Federal Capital Territory.
Ibom Focus learnt that the BDCs were forced to close down to save face and arrest the free fall of the naira.
Ibom Focus learnt that the EFCC employed the use of firearms to force the BDC operators to stop trading, leading to the firing of gunshots.
