Two suspects, Joseph Chinenye, 39, and Onyeka Kenneth Ezeja, 29, have been arrested by operatives of the Enugu State Police Command for allegedly possessing, transacting and selling counterfeit notes of the newly redesigned naira.
The development was conveyed by the command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, in a statement he signed and released on Friday.
According to the police spokesperson, the suspects, who reside at Iheakpu-Awka in Igbo-Eze South and Onicha Enugu-Ezike in Igbo-Eze North local government areas of the state, were caught with 180 pieces of the newly redesigned N1,000 notes which are counterfeit.
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The police image maker disclosed that preliminary investigation showed that the notes, which were in three separate batches, “bear the same serial numbers of A/34:282656, A/46:578759 and 8/93:852942.”
However, the suspects claimed to have secured the fake notes from an unidentified woman in Benin, Edo State.
“In addition, they confessed to attempting to sell the notes to a POS operator, who rejected them, before [police] operatives arrested them at a filling station in Ibagwa-Aka community of Igbo-Eze LGA, where they used the notes to purchase petrol,” he stated.
The Police Public Relations Officer affirmed that the suspects would be arraigned in court once the investigation is concluded by the state CID.
The statement reassured the public of the commitment of the Police to fish out criminal elements perpetrating such acts of economic sabotage and ensure that they are brought to book.