Fakoyejo OlalekanEight Bureau De Change operators of the foreign exchange black market in Kano State were arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The EFCC raided the parallel market days after its chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, warned that the anti-graft agency will clampdown on Bureau De Change operators aiding illicit cash hoarders.
Also, the arrest came after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced that it will release the redesigned naira notes by December 15, 2022.
This has put the Bureau De Change operators on the radar of the EFCC, amid speculations that illicit naira hoarders will use the parallel market to dump their cash in exchange for dollars to avoid going to the commercial bank.
Due to the raid which occurred on Tuesday evening, it was gathered that many Bureau De Change operators closed the stores, resulting to partial operation.
The eight were arrested on allegation of forex racketeering and conducting forex operation without legal license. A senior staff in EFCC told Daily Trust that the BDC operators are suspected for the hike in forex rate.
Prime Business Africa had reported that the dollar rate jumped to N1000/$1 on Wednesday according to a BDC operator in Lagos State, while another said it is N865/$1.
According to a marketer who spoke on the arrest of the eight BDC operators, “Every time they raid this market, the price of dollar will go up. For instance, today (Wednesday) a dollar is N845 as against N835 it was being sold yesterday (Tuesday) before the EFCC raided us.
“In fact, last week we were selling it at N750 but before the end of the week, it went up to N780. Problem is that it is because the government is not releasing dollars. The hike is not our fault. We buy expensive, so we have to sell it in a way to make a little profit.”
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