- Safiu Kehinde
A middled-aged man, Hammed Saka, has bagged three months jail term for hawking new Naira notes in Lagos.
Saka was jailed by Justice Ayokunle Faji of the Ikoyi Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Wednesday.
This was, however, disclosed in a statement issued on Friday by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
As contained in the statement, the convict was arraigned on a one-count charge by the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Directorate.
The charge reads: “That you, Hammed Saka, on or about the 14h day of December, 2024, at Villa Dome Event Centre, Okotie-Eboh Street, Ikoyi, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, hawked the sum of N800,000.00 (Eight Hundred Thousand Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 21(4) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007.”
He pleaded guilty to the charge when it was read to him.
In view of his plea, prosecution counsel, S.I. Suleiman, tendered the defendant’s confessional statement as well as the money recovered from him, while also urging the court to convict him as charged.
Delivering judgment, Justice Faji convicted and sentenced Saka to three months imprisonment, with a fine of N100,000.00.
The judge also ordered the sum of N800,000 recovered from the convict to be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.