A Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, has sentenced a man, Hammed Saka, to three months imprisonment for illegally hawking new Naira notes.
Saka was convicted by Justice Ayokunle Faji following his arraignment by the Lagos Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
This was contained in a statement released by the EFCC on their official X account
The charge against him stated that on December 14, 2024, at Villa Dome Event Centre, Okotie-Eboh Street, Ikoyi, Lagos, Saka was found in possession of and hawking N800,000 worth of newly issued Naira notes, an act prohibited under Section 21(4) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act, 2007.
When the charge was read in court, the defendant pleaded guilty. In response, EFCC counsel, S.I. Suleiman, presented Saka’s confessional statement and the recovered money as evidence, urging the court to convict him.
Justice Faji however sentenced Saka to three months imprisonment with an of a N100,000 fine.
The court also ordered that the N800,000 recovered from him be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The statement party read: “The Lagos Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has secured the conviction and sentence of one Hammed Saka to three months imprisonment for hawking new Naira notes.
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“He was jailed by Justice Ayokunle Faji of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos.
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.”
“Delivering judgment on March 19, 2025, 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.
“The convict bagged his imprisonment when he was arrested for hawking new Naira notes against existing laws. He was charged to court and convicted.”
