•Report by Kamil Opeyemi
Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested the operations manager of a commercial bank in Abuja for allegedly hoarding N29 million of the new naira notes.
The anti-graft agency’s spokesman, Wilson Uwajaren disclosed this in a statement released on Monday.
According to him,the operations manager was arrested for refusing to load the bank’s Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) despite having N29 million in the vault.
“Before he was whisked away for further questioning, the operatives ordered the loading of all the ATMs and the payment of the stipulated amount across the counter to the delight of the distraught customers who had spent hours in queues without getting the new notes,” the statement reads.
“This discovery, which indicates sabotage of the government’s monetary policy by some banks,was made by the EFCC in continuation of the ongoing surveillance and visit to banks across the country to access their vaults and verify whether they were deliberately refusing to dispense the redesigned Naira notes.
“More than five bank branches were covered today by the operatives in Abuja. Similar exercises are ongoing in zonal commands across the country.
The agency assured that such operation would continue until normalcy is restored to the banking system.
“Nigerians finding it difficult to access their funds at any bank and suspects foul play should contact the commission, for immediate intervention,”the statement added
Over the past few days, Nigerians have been battling with the scarcity of new naira notes,the situation that has led to queues at banking halls and ATMs.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had given a deadline of January 31 for the use of old naira notes but it was recently extended to February 10.