A stockpile of naira notes was found inside Benue Police Barracks in Wadata, Makurdi, the capital of Benue State, but police authority said it was paper waster for the production of mosquito coil.
The money was stacked inside sacks bearing Unity Bank trademark. Reportedly, the owner of the money, Isah Suleiman, was earlier yesterday, arrested by operatives of Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) who took him to their zonal office in Makurdi. He was later released after interrogation.
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According to reports, the owner claimed he had been into the business of buying condemned money from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and selling them to his customers who use them for the production of other finished goods.
BENUE POLICE REACTS
The Benue Police Command in a swift reaction through its spokesman, Anene Sewuese Catherine, said the recovered sacks contained wasted papers.
“On 13/12/2022 at about 1200hrs information was received at A Police Division Makurdi, that hidden naira notes were recovered from Police Barracks Wadata,” Catherine said in a press statement. “Police detectives sent on an investigation to the scene recovered wasted papers in a shop close to Wadata Police Barracks, Makurdi.”
According to her, the owner of the “paper”, Suleiman, was a licensed waste manager contracted by the CBN to handle waste paper disposal which were recycled to mosquito repellent coil.
Suleiman was “invited for questioning and he tendered a licence issued to him by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for waste management,” Catherine stated. “He added that these wasted papers are usually gotten from CBN and processed in mosquito repellents. Investigation has been extended to CBN for confirmation.”
Efforts to reach CBN proved abortive as it did not respond to several calls placed on lines made available on its website. As of press time, a text sent via the line had not been responded to.
