Lagos court jails two for hawking N2.15m naira notes — EFCC

The Federal High Court in Lagos has sentenced two persons to six months’ imprisonment each for illegally trading and hawking naira notes.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, said in a statement that Justice A. Aluko of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, handed down the sentences on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, after the two convicts pleaded guilty to separate charges brought against them by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the agency.

The convicts, Mutairu Omowunmi Tawa and Faith Chukwujeku, were separately arraigned before the court on one-count charges relating to unlawful trading in naira notes.

The charge against Tawa stated, “That you, Mutairu Omowunmi, female, on or about 25th July, 2026, at Salamagic Event Centre, Onikan, Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did sell and trade in the sum of N850,000.00 and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 21(4) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007, as amended, and punishable under Section 21(10) of the same Act.”

The second convict, Chukwujeku, was charged with hawking N1.3 million in N200 denominations.

The charge read, “That you, Faith Chukwujeku, on the 25th of July, 2026, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, engaged in hawking the total sum of N1,300,000 (One Million Three Hundred Thousand Naira) in N200 note denominations issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 21(4) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (Establishment) Act, 2007.”

Both defendants pleaded guilty after the charges were read to them in court.

Following their pleas, the prosecution counsel, Fanen Anum, reviewed the facts of the cases before the court and asked the judge to convict and sentence the defendants accordingly.

Anum also urged the court to order the forfeiture of the exhibits recovered from the convicts to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, describing the cash as the instrument used in committing the offences.

In his judgment, Justice Aluko found Tawa and Chukwujeku guilty of the offences and sentenced each of them to six months in prison.

The judge, however, gave each convict the option of paying a N50,000 fine instead of serving the prison term.

Justice Aluko also ordered that the cash marked as Exhibit C be forfeited to the Federal Government, as it was the instrument used in committing the offence.

The two cases arose from the alleged illegal trading and hawking of a combined N2.15 million in naira notes in Lagos on July 25, 2026.