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In a bid to tackle the exchange rate crisis in Nigeria, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) continued its raid on Bureau de Change operators in major cities.
The raid started on Tuesday, November 1, 2022. and yesterday, the detectives arrested no fewer than 87 forex dealers in Abuja, Lagos and Kano states.
According to ThePunch, the EFCC operatives ransacked the vaults of forex dealers in Abuja for stash of dollars and naira.
During the raid, the detectives reportedly arrested 25 legal and illegal forex dealers in addition to the 40 arrested they arrested at the Wuse offices of the Association of Bureau de Change Operators on Tuesday.
The EFCC operatives also seized the phones of those that were arrested.
Also, in Lagos and Kano, about 14 and eight BDC operators were arrested respectively at BDC markets in the states.
The EFCC operatives started raiding BDC centres following the arrest of Ismaila Atumeyi, the Kogi State House of Assembly candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party.
Atumeyi was arrested in Abuja on Sunday, October 30, 2022, with N326m and $140,500 cash alongside one Joshua Dominic, an alleged serial fraudster.
Reason for the raid: It is believed that the EFCC’s operation against BDCs is targeted at tracking illicit funds from terrorists, bandits and politicians who might want to convert their stash of dollars to naira to beat the redesign of naira notes recently announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The CBN said the new notes would be released on December 15.
Reacting to the raid in Abuja, the Assistant Provost, Association of Bureau de Change Operators, Zone 4, Wuse, Mallam Muhammed Nera said 13 out of the 25 BDC operators arrested by the EFCC detectives have been released.
He noted, however, that their phones are still with the EFCC officials.
Describing the operation as illegal, Nera said the EFCC did not present an arrest or search warrant before ransacking their offices.