EFCC arrests Abuja bank manager for hoarding N29 million new Naira notes

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested an operations manager of a leading commercial bank in Abuja Central Area for refusing to load the Automated Teller Machines, ATMs, of the bank despite having N29 million of the redesigned Naira notes in the branch’s vaults. Before he was taken 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 on queues without getting the new notes.

This discovery, which indicates a 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 by the operatives in Abuja. Similar exercises were ongoing in zonal commands across the country. A statement by the EFCC Spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, said  monitoring of banks and arrest of recalcitrant officials would continue until normalcy is restored to the banking system. The EFCC asked Nigerians finding it difficult to access their funds at any bank or suspect any foul play to contact the commission for immediate intervention.