The Federal High Court, sitting in Damaturu, the capital of Yobe State, has sentenced two men to prison for allegedly operating a bureau de change operations without the necessary Central Bank of Nigeria license.
The two men identified as Haruna Ahmadu and Kabiru Iliyasu, were initially arraigned on March 12, 2024, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission from with each facing a separate one-count charge for running unlicensed bureau de change operations.
The charge against Ahmadu, was that he operated an unlicensed financial business between June 2023 and 2024 in Damaturu, the Yobe State capital in violation of Sections 57 and 59(5) of the Bank and Other Financial Institutions Act, 2020.
Both Ahmadu and Iliyasu initially pleaded not guilty to the charges.
However, as the trial proceeded, Iliyasu changed his plea to guilty, prompting the EFCC prosecutor, Mukhtar Ali Ahmad to request his immediate conviction.
Read also: Taskforce raises alarm over activities of illegal miners in Taraba
In his ruling Justice Fadimatu Aminu, subsequently, handed down a sentence of four years imprisonment to Iliyasu, with the option to pay a N500,000 fine.
Ahmadu, who maintained a not guilty plea until the end of his trial, received a two-year prison sentence, with an option to pay N100,000 as fine.
The sentencing, according to an EFCC official who spoke on condition of annonymity, highlights ongoing efforts by the federal government to regulate financial operations and deter unlicensed activities in the country’s financial sector.Yobe court jails 2 men for operating illegal bureau de change
