15th April, 2018
Adejoke Adeleye/Abeokuta
The Ogun State Police Command has arrested five women in various parts of the state for illegal hawking and selling of Naira notes.
The suspects, Toyin Alegbe, Kehinde Akinbode, Shoneye Latifat, Kehinde Olanrewaju and Iyanuoluwa Shokunbi were arrested in Ijebu-Ode, Shagamu and Abeokuta areas of the state during a sting operation jointly carried out by the police and officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday and Friday.
The operation is in line with the provisions of section 21(1) of the CBN act 2007 which made hawking, selling and abuse of Naira a punishable offence.
Various denominations of Naira notes totalling 1,560,000 were recovered from the suspects who were publicly exhibiting the monies for sale.
The state Commissioner of Police Ahmed Iliyasu has directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the state Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department Aminu Alhassan to commence full scale investigation into the activities of these suspects with the view of bringing to book others who are into same trade and prosecute them accordingly.
Ahmed warned members of the public to desist from any act capable of soiling, abusing or destroying the Naira which is one of the symbols of our national identity.
The police boss expressed his readiness to work with all government agencies to stamp out crime and criminality in the state.