Falling Naira: EFCC Raids Bureau De Change Companies

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission raided the Wuse Zone 4 bureau de change hub in Abuja on Friday due to the falling naira.

The PUNCH has learned that EFCC agents are looking into claims that some people are scooping up and hoarding foreign currency, causing scarcity and driving up the value of the dollar.

“It is true,” said an EFCC detective who requested anonymity. We stormed bureau de change firms in Wuse Zone 4, Abuja, for a covert operation to dislodge currency speculators who are allegedly snatching up available foreign currencies in large quantities.

“The raid is the result of weeks of surveillance in which EFCC agents have been monitoring the activities of the majority of the bureau de change operators in the Wuse 4 axis.

“The anti-graft agency is working on intelligence that some forces with massive naira inflow have mobilised resources and, are busy buying up available foreign currencies especially the US Dollar, to either hoard or smuggle the same out of Nigeria.”

Informations gotten was that some operatives of the commission had been deployed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja as part of a coordinated operation to halt the activities of currency speculators.

The Spokesman for the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, could not be reached for comment on Friday.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has in recent times come under criticism for failing to stabilise the naira which has continued to dip against major currencies.

The ruling All Progressives Congress had in 2015 promised to stabilise the exchange rate which stood at about N200/$1 on the black market at the time.

However, the naira hit an all-time low of N710 to the dollar earlier in the week, attracting criticisms from the opposition. The naira has, however, remained stable at N420/$1 on the official market.