Some suspected members of the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) reportedly shared N100,000 old naira notes each to passengers on the Borno highway ahead of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) cashless policy deadline.
It was gathered that the terrorists dressed like military personnel in camouflage and drove two gun trucks.
A resident, Bakura Ibrahim, said the terrorists positioned themselves under a tree by the roadside with bags of old naira notes.
Bakura said, “We left Monguno at about noon; as we approached Mairari, there were no existing checkpoints in the area; we were apprehensive.
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“They stopped us and asked if we were going to Maiduguri, then they started giving each person N100,000 old naira notes, but we could not believe it. They gave each passenger the old notes.”
Another source added, “The terrorist simply told us, “If you think you can go to your banks and change it to new naira, go and do so; may Allah make it beneficial to you.”