OPERATIVES of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested an Operations Manager of a leading commercial bank in Abuja for hoarding new naira notes.
The unnamed bank manager, whose branch is in the Central Area of Abuja, was arrested on Monday, February 6.
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According to the EFCC, the manager was arrested for refusing to load the bank’s Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) despite having N29 million of the redesigned naira notes in the branch’s vaults.
EFCC, in a statement signed by its Spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, said before the manager was whisked away for further questioning, its operatives ordered the loading of all the ATMs and the payment of the stipulated amount across the counter to customers who had spent hours in queues without getting the new notes.
“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 were ongoing in Zonal Commands across the country.
“The operation will continue until normalcy is restored to the banking system,” the EFCC said.
The anti-graft agency, in the statement, urged Nigerians finding it difficult to access their funds at any bank to contact it for immediate intervention.
A reporter with the ICIR
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