The Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, has handed down custodial sentences to four individuals arrested for parallel-market foreign exchange dealings and the unauthorized hawking and trading of the national currency.
Presiding Justice F.N. Ogazi convicted the defendants following their swift guilty pleas to separate one-count charges brought against them by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The convicts—identified as Ahmad Umar Baros, Aminu Umar Injay, Yusuf Suleimon, and Olasunbo Sholanke—were docked on Thursday, August 6, 2026. While Baros and Injay faced prosecution for executing currency exchanges outside the centrally regulated official market—violating the National Economic Intelligence Committee Act—Suleimon and Sholanke answered for charges regarding the illegal commercialization of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) naira notes, breaching the CBN Act.
During the trial proceedings, prosecution counsels N.K. Ukoha, Ebuka Okongwu, and U.S. Kyari presented comprehensive reviews of the case facts, successfully praying the court to apply full statutory penalties.
Delivering judgment, Justice Ogazi sentenced Ahmad Umar Baros to two months’ imprisonment. Meanwhile, Aminu Umar Injay, Yusuf Suleimon, and Olasunbo Sholanke received six months’ imprisonment each, coupled with an option of a ₦100,000 fine per convict.
Legal analysts note that the expedited convictions underscore the Federal Government’s intensified clampdown on parallel currency speculation and illicit cash vending networks undermining financial stability.
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