The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested the operations manager of a commercial bank in Abuja for hoarding N29 million of the new naira notes.
EFCC disclosed this in a statement on Monday, in continuation of its clampdown on banks hoarding the new notes which has led to its scarcity and untold hardship on Nigerians.
According to the anti-graft agency, the operations manager was arrested after refusing to load the bank’s automated teller machines (ATMs) despite having N29 million in the vault.
The statement reads, “Before he was whisked away for further questioning, the operatives ordered the loading of all the ATMs and the payment of the stipulated amount across the counter to the delight of the distraught customers who had spent hours in queues without getting the new notes.
“This discovery, which indicates sabotage of the government’s monetary policy by some banks, was made by the EFCC in continuation of the ongoing surveillance and visit to banks across the country to access their vaults and verify whether they were deliberately refusing to dispense the redesigned Naira notes.
“More than five bank branches were covered today by the operatives in Abuja. Similar exercises are ongoing in zonal commands across the country.”
Over the past few weeks, Nigerians have been battling with the scarcity of new naira notes — a development that has led to queues at banking halls and ATMs — with Point of Sales (POS) operators charging exorbitant amount and extorting citizens.
Aside the EFCC, it’s sister agency, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) recently apprehended the manager of a bank in Osogbo, Osun state capital, for loading ATMs with cash bundles wrapped with nylon, and as such, could not be dispensed through the machines.
The naira notes scarcity, coupled with the scarcity of petrol, has also led to protests in some parts of the country with some politicians suspending campaigns in such affected states and areas.
