Court Jails Two Over Illegal Naira Trading in Lagos

​Two individuals, Mutairu Omowunmi Tawa and Faith Chukwujeku, have been sentenced to six months imprisonment by Justice A. Aluko of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, following their prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

​The convicts were arraigned separately by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the anti-graft agency on separate one-count charges relating to the unlawful hawking and trading of Nigerian currency notes. Tawa was prosecuted for trading the sum of ₦850,000, while Chukwujeku was convicted for hawking ₦1,300,000 in ₦200 note denominations at a Lagos event center in late July.

​Appearing before the court, both defendants pleaded guilty to the charges brought against them. Following their pleas, prosecution counsel Fanen Anum reviewed the facts of the cases and prayed the court to convict them accordingly, while also requesting the permanent forfeiture of the recovered cash exhibits to the federal government.

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​In his judgment, Justice Aluko convicted the duo, handing down a six-month jail term with an option of a ₦50,000 fine each. Furthermore, the court ordered that all physical cash recovered and marked as exhibits be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria, as they served as instruments used in committing the economic offenses.