The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission carried out an unannounced raid at Zone 4 Wuse in Abuja, on Monday, which resulted in the arrest of an unknown number of Bureau De Change operators.
This was confirmed by BDC operators trading in Wuse noting that the raid happened around noon and that a raid took place at about midday, which caused pandemonium in the area.
According to the traders who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue, the seizure affected their business activities at the market.
He said, “EFCC just raided the market, arresting many operators. They arrested some persons seen on the street and even pursued some persons to their offices. We are still looking for N30,000 or N50,000 to bail those arrested on Friday yet they came again today.”
This development is part of ongoing efforts by the EFCC and the Central Bank to stabilise exchange rates and enhance foreign exchange liquidity.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission said in a statement on Friday, that 34 suspects were apprehended on currency speculation for alleged foreign exchange fraud.
Despite these efforts, the naira decline against the US dollar continued on Monday closing at N1419.11/$.
Naira traded at the official market on Monday, at N1,419 representing a decline of N58 or 4.3 per cent against the N1,361 it traded last Friday.
Currency traders at the popular Zone 4 market said they sold the dollar at N1,340 per dollar, from N1,275 over the weekend.
