Linus Aleke, Abuja
An undisclosed number of persons involved in the sale of the new naira notes were arrested yesterday by officers of the Department of State Services (DSS).

The DSS, in a statement yesterday by its spokesman, Peter Afunanya, fingered some commercial bank officials of conniving with the syndicate to commit the crime.

The statement titled, ‘DSS intercepted syndicates selling new currency notes, bank official implicated’, reads, “The Department of State Services hereby informs the public that it has intercepted some members of organized syndicates involved in the sale of the newly redesigned naira notes. In the course of its operations, in this regard in parts of the country, it was also established that some commercial bank officials are aiding the economic malfeasance.

“Consequently, the Service warns the currency racketeers to desist from this ignoble act. Appropriate regulatory authorities are, in this same vein, urged to step up monitoring and supervisory activities to expeditiously address the emerging trend.

“It should be noted that the Service has ordered its Commands and Formations to further ensure that all persons and groups engaged in the illegal sale of the notes are identified. Therefore, anyone with useful information relating to this is encouraged to pass the same to the relevant authorities.”

Also yesterday, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said it arrested members of a syndicate of currency racketeers hoarding and trading in the redesigned Naira notes in Abuja.

The spokesperson of the commission, Wilson Uwujaren, in a statement yesterday said that the operations were carried out in Zone 4 and Dei Dei axis of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) between Saturday and yesterday.

He said the operation followed intelligence on activities of unscrupulous currency speculators who were exploiting desperate citizens by offering them the new Naira notes for foreign currencies at below the going rate.

The action came a day after the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, said the bank would collaborate with law enforcement agencies like EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to track such heavy withdrawals.

The EFCC also said its findings have revealed that some of the money traders are working with officials of Money Deposit Banks.

“The suspects have made useful statements, including a disclosure that they were acting in cohort with some unscrupulous officials of Money Deposit Banks.

No face-off between Buhari, Tinubu over naira redesign, fuel scarcity, says Senator

*FCT residents groan over unavailability of new currency

Meanwhile, residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have expressed displeasure over the agony caused by the unavailability of the new Naira bills at the various bank.

Automated Teller Machines (ATM).

Most of the ATMs in the FCT yesterday did not dispense either the new or old Naira notes.

However, the few machines in the city that were dispensing the new Naira notes were practically turned into boxing arenas where only the strong had their way, while those not dispensing metamorphosed into “static theatre,” where lamentations and expression of agony was the center piece of the discussion.

Regrettably, the point-of-sale system (POS), operators, that should bridge this obvious gap are also affected by the scarcity of new notes.

The few that manage to get the new Naira notes, charge as high as N1000 for each N10,000 withdrawal, using their POS.

A civil servant, Paul Agatu, who shared his experience with ThisNigeria Newspaper, said, he could not report to his office yesterday because he spent the whole day struggling to withdraw money from ATM.

“I visited no fewer than five different banks’ ATMs, and none were paying. I even went into the banking hall but to no avail. The bankers said that they are open to collecting the old Naira notes and not paying customers across the counter. When I appealed to one of the staff to help me, he told me that they don’t have the new Naira notes.

“If we have it, we will use it to satisfy our customers. The little we have, we loaded in the ATM, and it is finished,” he told me. This is in addition to fuel scarcity,” he further lamented.

A taxi driver, who simply identified himself as Adedayo, said the scarcity of new Naira notes is affecting transport business in the city.

“There are no passengers on the road. Most people are in queues in ATMs. I am appealing to the government to make the new notes available to reduce this suffering. The new money is good, but it is too scarce”, he said.

He noted that if the scarcity of the new notes continues, it will drive many of them out of business.

A POS operator, Ms. Ada told our correspondent that some of them may also be frustrated out of business if the situation continues.

She said that for her to get N100, 000 to service a few customers in a day, she would have to use five different ATM cards.

She added that it is more frustrating when one encounters an ATM that is dispensing N200 notes, adding that you would be forced to withdraw the 20,000 in tranches of N400 each.

On his part, another POS operator, who did not want his name in print said that he had to ration the small new Naira notes he had to his loyal customers, to maximize profit.

When asked about his charges, he admitted to charging N300 per each N3000 that he pays his customers.

He said that when he learnt of the extension order by CBN on Sunday night, he decided to visit his bank early yesterday morning to get the old Naira notes, but his efforts met a brick wall.