The Federal High Court in Lagos has dismissed charges against 19 Bureau de Change (BDC) operators after the Police withdrew the case.
The BDC operators, who were arrested on February 21, during a joint operation conducted by Police operatives, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), in different parts of Lagos, were charged with conspiracy, unlawful operation of forex trading as BDC operators without a licence from regulatory agencies, and deriving various sums of money from such unauthorised trading.
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The BDC operators involved are Ibrahim Jubril, Abdullahi Abubakar, Ibrahim Hassan, Adamu Isiaka, Ibrahim Abdulrahman, Jubril Hassan, Mohammed Isoaka, Mohammed Aminu and Adamu Ibrahim.
Others are Hassan Amadu, Salisu Hamidu, Mahmoud Mohammed, Murtala Usman, Hassan Yakubu, Abdullahi Kabiru, and Ali Sadam. Ahmadu Yusuf, Abdullahi Hussain and Alhaji Sido.
According to the Police, the offence contravenes the provisions of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 2020.
During a court session on Monday, the Police counsel informed the court that he would not proceed with the suspects’ arraignment and that he had an application to withdraw the charge against the defendants.
As a result, the presiding judge, Lewis Allagoa struck out the charge.
