EFCC arrests Edo Govt. official over alleged naira abuse

Operatives of the Benin zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested an official of the Edo State Government, Kelly Okungbowa, popularly known as Ebo Stone, over alleged naira abuse.

Dele Oyewale, Head, Media and Publicity, EFCC, announced the arrest in a statement on Monday in Benin.

Mr Okungbowa was the coordinator of the Edo State Public Safety Response Team (PSRT) before his suspension recently.

He also served as the Chairman of the Edo State Asset Recovery Committee.

Mr Oyewale said Mr Okungbowa was arrested on Monday following a viral video where he was seen spraying and mutilating naira at a bar.

According to the EFCC spokesperson, Mr Okungbowa will be charged in court as soon as investigations are completed.

Stepped up actions against naira abuse

Similarly, on Monday, EFCC announced the arrest of popular Kano TIKTOK influencer Murja Kunya for the alleged mutilation and abuse of the naira, signalling the commission’s sustained efforts, which it has stepped up against the menace in the about the last one year.

A case that has come to symbolise the efforts is that of crossdresser Bobrisky, who was arrested, following a viral video clip showing him spraying and flaunting wads of new naira notes on 24 March 2024 at the premiere of a movie, ‘Ajakaju’.

EFCC subsequently arraigned the Instagram celebrity before the Federal High Court in Lagos on 5 April, when he pleaded guilty to four charges preferred against him.

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The court, after Bobrisky pled to the charges, the judge convicted him and subsequently sentenced him to six months imprisonment.

The judge said Bobrisky’s sentence would serve as a lesson for others from abusing the naira.

A few weeks after Bobrisky’s ordeal, another socialite, Pascal Okechukwu, also known as Cubana Chief Priest, was arraigned in court by the EFCC. The agency later dropped the charges in exchange for his forfeiture of N10 million.

Earlier in February the same year, the Federal High Court in Lagos similarly convicted an actress, Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin, of spraying and stepping on new naira notes at a wedding in Lagos.

Ms Omoseyin was apprehended on 1 February, following the viral circulation of a video clip showing her spraying new Naira notes at a wedding in Lekki, Lagos State, on 28 January.

On 2 February, the trial judge, Chukwujekwu Aneke, sentenced Ms Omoseyin to six months imprisonment, but with the option of a N300,000 fine.

In one of the latest episodes of the enforcement actions against behaviour, EFCC, in January this year, invited Subomi Okoya and Wahab Okoya, the sons of billionaire industrialist Razaq Okoya, for interrogation over alleged abuse of the naira.

The brothers were seen with a police officer holding wads of N1,000 notes in a promotional video for a new song. The video elicited outrage on social media.

On 10 January, Muyiwa Adejobi, spokesperson for the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), announced that the officer seen in the video had been arrested and detained.

But since then, not much has been heard about the case.

Despite EFCC’s intensified crackdown against the abuse of naira, the practice is still rampant at social events.

Allegations of selective arrest and prosecution are rife, with EFCC often accused of turning a blind eye to many cases of abuse of naira at social events despite members of the public repeatedly drawing its attention to them.

(NAN)