EFCC Arrests 87 Forex Traders In Abuja, Lagos

In furtherance of its war against forex dealers concerning the current dollar crisis in the country, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday arrested not lesser than 87 forex dealers in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Lagos and Kano.

Findings revealed that the EFCC detectives visited lots of forex trading hubs in Abuja, ransacking their vaults for stash of dollars and naira.

The operatives eventually arrested not lesser than 25 legal and illegal forex dealers in addition to the 40 initially arrested on Tuesday during a raid of the Zone 4 Wuse offices of the Association of Bureau de Change Operators, bringing the number of arrests in the Federal Capital Territory to 65.

During the operation, the EFCC personnel were said to have seized the phones of those that were arrested.

The agency also nabbed about 14 forex dealers in Lagos on Wednesday while eight others were picked up at the famous Bureau de Change market located at Wapa in Kano metropolis.

In Lagos, EFCC detectives swooped on forex dealers on Broad Street in Lagos Island as well as some BDC outlets in other parts of the states.

According to some Forex traders, the EFCC operatives came in two buses. It was learnt that about 14 BDC operators were arrested in Lagos.

Although no reason had been given for the raids, it was gathered that the EFCC operation was targeted at tracking illicit funds from terrorists, bandits and politicians who might want to convert their stash in order to beat the redesign of the naira announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The new naira notes, which would replace higher denominations, would be out on December 15.